Entangled
by sentinel10
Summary: v. to make tangled or twisted, to make complicated; confuse, to involve in difficulties; entrap. Leah/Jacob/Bella/Edward. Angsty. AU
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Twilight**

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><p>Summary: After the newborn war, Edward realises that no matter what he does, Bella is always going to be endanger if she stays with him. So he leaves her again and this time Bella lets Jacob take care of her broken heart. They move away from Washington to be closer to Renee and ultimately away from the supernatural world.<p>

It's only when they come back to Forks, four years later, does Jacob realise how things have changed. Taking on the challenge to heal the broken links between his pack mates and himself, he discovers that maybe he was wrong in leaving and that it had all been a mistake. Between all of the chaos around him, he struggles with the task of keeping the two worlds apart and from falling in love with a woman who doesn't want his help.

As his life becomes entangled between his first love and this new love, Jacob _must_ make a choice.

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><p>…<p>

Entangled

[ I ]

...

Jacob stands, his shoulders slumped and his back bent, feeling as if the only thing left inside him were sadness. He watches as Bella holds her father's hand tightly, how she comforts him with the same hugs they share together in their home when he has a bad day at the garage or she has had a hard day at the animal shelter.

The strong aching smell of tears stain the area for a 10 mile radius and he hates the fact that with his enhanced sense of smell he could have smelt it all the way to the border and probably from the next town over. He doesn't know how long it's been since they'd arrived but something in the air makes it feel like his never left. Maybe it's because deep down he knows this place is his home; the place where he grew up, where he made friends and where he first fell in love.

His attention is drawn back to the couple in front of him as Charlie stands, giving Bella a lasting hug before reaching inside to take out a crumpled white piece of note pad paper from the breast pocket of his pressed suit.

Jacob can't see any tears on the older man's face but maybe that's because Charlie's always been such a private man. Maybe unknown to all of them he'd already cried his heart out and had nothing left to give. After all; the loss of a wife must damage the soul to a point of disrepair. He himself couldn't imagine such a feeling; to lose the other half of one's heart, the other indescribable half of one's soul.

The aching intensifies as Jacob listens to the man's words - really listens. The heartfelt despair, the immense happiness, the longing and the love is all wrapped into one short speech. Charlie talks about the last years he's spent with the second love of his life; the woman who in every aspect had taken care of him, whom he had loved and whom he had shared a home with. He talks about moments in which they'd spent together, tending to the greenhouse on the back of the property, helping out down at rec centre on the reservation with the other families and the hours they'd spend talking about their children.

He explains that Sue had only truly been happy helping those in need, her profession as a nurse being one of the many highlights of this proof. There is tenderness in Charlie's words, tenderness that comes only from a lover, a husband and a best friend. Jacob feels like an intruder listening to the older man speak. As if the words that fall from his lips belong only to his wife.

Charlie takes a breath, gulps only for a moment and begins thanking his daughter who had travelled so far to be here. The instant Charlie's eyes linger toward the end of the row of chairs, Jacob knows they have arrived, yet not sure how long they have been listening. He'd known they'd eventually show up and had searched for them when he and Bella had first arrived without any success.

It had been just shy of four years since he'd last seen them, four years since he'd left with Bella to find a life just for them and away from the supernatural pull the place around them seemed to cast. He desperately wishes now, that he'd come back to visit on better terms, that he'd come back on his own accord. That he'd come back, if not for Seth and Leah, for his pack.

Charlie's voice cuts him out of his thoughts and his eyes meander back to the man, not being able to see the couple through the thick rows of people anyway.

"Seth, Leah - You should both know that your mother loved you more than she could ever show and more than she could say. I know that it's not much but let me assure you that there will always be a place in 'our' home for you both. I just want to thank you both for being good kids, good to your mother and good to me for all intensive purposes. We both wouldn't have made it without you"

Jacob wonders what Charlie means and takes note to question him later as he watches a huge burly man step forward to shake his hand and pat his back. Bella's father looks so small with all the shape-shifters around him, and Jacob wonders if they have gotten even bigger since his departure.

He can't help but freeze when the man turns and little Seth Clearwater's face is attached to the body of a giant. He still looks like the same Seth that farewelled him and Bella, but there is no longer a naive, happy boy. In his place is a man who has earned the respect of his peers, a man who commands attention and a man who has lost something dear to him.

He blinks a couple of times, his jaw wired shut and unable to move. It's like Seth can't see him, or in fact chooses not to acknowledge him. The way he moves to comfort Charlie is tender as if he would break the poor human man with a simple hug and it isn't until Seth walks to the front that Jacob notices another difference. Seth limps toward the middle of the grassed area and looks around at the crowd as if contemplating the right words to address them all with. His once boyish features are now a man's and are set in a steel casing of wired strength. But the limp - Jacob knows that it is not a new injury, he knows that because he fails to pick up any smell of blood, not even in the faintest. He wonders how Seth got the injury, how long ago it happened, who else had been hurt. He wonders whether it was the result of vampires scouring the area or a fateful 'human' accident.

Seth's brown orbs finally meet his and it feels like energy pulses around them and like the word challenge lingers in the air. That is, until Seth gives him a small nod which he returns in like. Jacob feels as though he can finally get a gust of air in his empty chest as Seth nods complacently to himself and drags his tongue over his bottom lip in an act that could be described only as unnerved.  
>He cocks his head to the side looking down at the Echinacea flowers on his mother's coffin and gives a small weary smile like he's found a memory inside him that has reminded him of his mother. A memory that can be shared amongst friends and family.<p>

The instant Seth begins to speak; Jacob's attention is again caught by something else. This time it's Leah. He knows it's her; he has no doubts about that. She looks different in aspects but overall she is the same girl. She is still tall, lean and beautiful as always. Even though her younger brother dwarfs her in comparison she still has strength. It's in the way she stands, the way she looks up at him as he speaks, the ways she tucks under his arm as he drapes it across her straight, strong shoulders.

It seems as though more has happened in the time Jacob has been away. A long thin scar stains Leah golden skin and Jacob gulps loudly as he follows it. It stretches from her cheek to under her jaw and follows a diagonal line down her collar bone to under the confines of her black top. He clears his throat to snap his eyes away from the area of flesh he's been looking at once Bella reaches to take his hand. Tentatively he rests his large palm on her small shoulder and it doesn't take her long until she's brought up her right hand across her body and resting it upon his. The feel of her flesh subsides him for only a moment before he feels the intense burning being cast at him.

Glancing up he realises where the heat is coming from. Leah has finally noticed him in the crowd. Her eyes are black with anger seeing him again. He knows what she is thinking. He can almost hear the accusations inside her head directed at him, he can feel her rage, her bottomless pit of sadness and her surprise. He wants to look away but he can't. He wants to pull way, he wants to get back in his car and head back to Phoenix with Bella but the weight of her stare is holding him in place.

When he'd left, he'd left as an Alpha, but now under her gaze he feels like nothing more than an omega, a gamma wolf worth less than the ground he stands upon. The tables had turned so quietly he hadn't realised that by leaving he would give place for others to move up, become more. The one difference which was clear was that these wolves had earned their status whereas he had merely been born into the position. Though as soon as her gaze started, it ended just as suddenly when both her and her brother began moving away from the centre of attention.

Jacob closes his eyes tightly before opening them again. Bella looks concerned as she rises from her chair and hugs him deeply; the emotional baggage weighing heavily on them both. Resting his cheek on her hair, he listens to the sweet nothings she is whispering - the assurance that things would be okay, the promise that it would all get better with time. He wants to argue with her and tell her some things always remain. Some things like the limp that Seth's walk now accompanies, like the thin scar that Leah wears, and the death of Sue Clearwater. Instead he nods and wraps his arms around her, humming quietly to the beginning of an old Quileute song led by his own father.

The sounds of the wipers dragging across the windows make him uneasy as he pushes the gear into park. The slow Forks drizzle had been building progressively throughout the day and Jacob knew that tonight they would be in for one hell of a storm.

"Jake?" Bella whispers, laying a gentle hand against his panted thigh to make sure he is okay.

"Hmm" He manages to reply, his eyes still trained on the multi storey house in front of them. He can see movement inside the house and he wonders how many people are here and if they should even go in. Cars line the gravelled driveway leading up to the house and Jacob bites his bottom lip. Bedside's his mothers, he's never been to a funeral, never been the one having to offer kind words and promises of a better future. He remembers all of the adults speaking to him at his mother's wake, as if he himself were dying. Making sure that he was okay, telling him that she was a good woman and would be proud of him. He hadn't wanted to hear it back then, a feeling which no doubt the Clearwater's shared now. Instead he just wanted his mother to come home like all motherless boys wanted.

"We can come back another time if you want. I am sure Dad will understand" She breathes, letting him know he is not the only one unsure about going inside.

Bella is aware that she is the reason for them leaving and knows that the pack have still not forgiven her. She had taken their true Alpha away from them, taken the selfish chance to leave and have Jacob all to herself. Had things been different, she wouldn't have had to. Had Edward not left-

But the fact remains that she did and there was not a thing that she would apologise for. Jacob was her best friend, she deserved to have him with her. They'd become easy lovers over time, and she loved him as much as she could.

"No" Jacob sighs, running a hand over his neck and shaking his head only a fraction. "It would be rude of us to not pay our respects. Plus, Charlie needs you"

"He needs you too Jake" She smiles, grasping on to his hand as he kisses her knuckles. Jacobs always been so sweet, so affectionate and she can't help wonder if Edward would have done the same.

"Sure, sure" He half-heartedly chuckles knowing that her statement was a nothing but a white lie. While he and Charlie got along over the years, it was Bella who was closest to her father. A long phone call home every Sunday proving so.

Getting from the car to the door Jacob notices a shift in the tree line bordering the property. He can see their shadows dance amongst the greenery. He stops and blinks away the rain drops from his eyelids. They stand only a metre back, their heads bowed to him in greeting. He nods back to them in acknowledgement as Bella comes to a stop beside him.

"They're all here, aren't they?"

Licking the salty drops from his lips it dawns on him that he is crying. Having the pack so close makes his heart break. In leaving them he feels as though he's left a part of himself behind, a void that no matter how much he tried, the woman beside him would never be able to fill.

"Yeah" He breathes deeply, trying to pull himself together for the rest of the afternoon. "They're here"

The house hums in sadness; people whisper and mourn amongst themselves. His wolf hearing allows him to hear every word they speak, every strained voice, every crack before tears flow again.

Bella finds her father quickly while he stands awkwardly in the living area, surrounded by friends and family of the Clearwater's and Swan's.

His eye catches a glint of silver through a narrow gap between people huddled together. His interest draws him closer and he finds himself looking out into the sprawling yard.

His father sits quietly, his chair facing the back drop of the forest, his hand lying protectively on Leah's shoulder. She sits on the grass, her back toward the house and her knees tucked up to her chest. He knows Billy is talking by the way Leah nods every now and then, how she tenses before releasing a breath of air with help from a small comforting squeeze from the older man's hand. Her hair softly blows in the wind, scraping the material of her shirt, and he marvels at how it's grown.

It seems strange watching the two, as if he's inadvertently stumbled across another intimate moment. With a lasting pat on the crown of her head from Billy, Leah stands and kisses his father's cheek before meandering toward the trees.

Jacob takes the opportunity to slip out the back door and heads toward his father who hums a tune. The tune is old, one he remembers as a boy but can't quite place. The rain has eased now but the wind continues to tussle the leaves of the tall trees.

"You came" Billy states before Jacob reaches his father. It's like he shares in the pack senses with his uncanny ability, even if the wheelchair bound body does not reflect such.

"I - Charlie needed us" He replies in haste, unsure of what his father really wants to hear. The time he's been away has stretched their father son relationship to the point of being unrecognisable, but still deep in his bones he feels the undying connection.

Billy shakes his head and sighs, running a hand over his neck, reminding Jacob of himself. "They need you too. Leah and Seth. Charlie lost a wife, but those two lost a mother. Maybe you can talk to them?"

Jacob can hear the words his father doesn't speak. 'Because you lost a mother too'.

Swallowing loudly he shrugs, not sure how he could comfort them. He himself had not handled his mother death at all. Between the crying and the promises to be a better son, he still hadn't gotten what he wanted.

"I don't know if it would help them any. I don't think they would want my help. I - I still don't think they even want me around"

"This is your home Jacob. You are the Cheifs only son. No one could ever bar you from these lands."

The statement is strange with Billy taking on a third person tone but Jacob nods, opting to stand by his father and stare out into the woods.

"She misses you, you know. No matter how hard she denies it, it's written all over her"

"I hurt her dad. I'm the last person she would miss"

"That's not true. You meant – mean - a lot to her. You were a friend when no one else would listen. You gave her purpose. When you left-"

Billy voice trails off, a thickness stopping his speech from continuing. Jacob feels his heart clench remembering the moment Leah came to him, begging him not to leave. His departure meant that she would go back to following under Sam's rein and continuing her nightmare of having to hear every thought of his precious Emily. Thinking of Emily has peaked his wonder over her scar. Leah had always been a fast wolf and a stronger fighter and it was hard to believe anyone would be able to catch her to inflict such an injury.

"What happened to her? The scar I mean. Was it a vampire?"

Billy nods, clasping his hands together to begin his recollection of events. "The Cullen's. Their vampire lords came back for the pack after the new born encounter. With the coven and the ability of foresight gone, Sam and the others had no idea of what was coming. They wanted the pack to serve them and wouldn't leave until they had either taken them back to Italy or seen them all dead. They put up a strong resistance but the vampires swarmed into homes."

His father takes a deep breath before continuing on. "Things have changed Jacob. Within the pack, within all of them. It might surprise you to know they are not the same people they were when you left"

Jacob can feel the soft drops of rain begin to pick up. Looking up towards the heavens he notices the dark rolling clouds which look as though they have permanently settled over Forks and LaPush.

"I wish I could have done something - somehow" He whispers as his jaw angles back to the horizon of greenery. "Been there for them"

Billy turns slowly in his chair and it's the first time that Jacob realises that his father will one day too pass. The lines in his face have deepened; his skin is pasty, old as is his age. He feels the same aching clench in his gut as fireworks shoot off in his mind - that while he has a choice to live forever, his father and most of those around him do not.

"You choose your fate son." Billy replies with a small pained smile. "The hardest part of life is living with those choices"

Once everyone leaves the house, Jacob helps Bella tidy up after putting her father to bed while Rachel drives Billy home. Charlie's had a rough day and not even the joy of seeing his only daughter can dwell any of his sadness. Sue Clearwater had been to Charlie what any of the imprinted couples claimed to have. While they argued about pointless things, like which day to barbecue their dinner and which plants to breed in the nursery, they still loved each other. At the end of the day, after a hard day at the hospital or at the station, they had each others hand to hold. Their love was mature, simple and based on the most basic's in life. A smile, a quiet hug, sharing a story of their day and just merely holding each other in the middle of the night. The realisation that Charlie will wake up tomorrow morning without Sue still hasn't sunken into him yet. But it will. It always does.

They collect the half eaten trays of food which many of the women had brought with them and Bella manages to alternate between dumping the food in containers for her father and washing them in soapy water. Jake takes a moment to stand behind Bella and kiss her brown hair. She still smells of apples and he wonders if it's her natural scent or the soap she uses.

"I love you" He whispers for her ears only, earning a small sigh from her.

"I know Jake." She answers shortly more intent on finishing cleaning than spending a moment to break.

Before Jacob can say anymore the sound of arguing reaches his ears. He knows it's coming from the back yard and can easily distinguish that one of the voices is female, meaning only one thing.

"Stay here Bells"

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah" Jacob nods licking his bottom lip trying to get a better more coherent understanding of what the two are arguing about.

"I'll be back in a second"

"Step over that line and I'll rip you apart"

He hears her long before he sees her. Her voice is drained, hoarse and full of hopelessness. He can feel her pain in the tone she uses and he really wants to find out who is upsetting her now more than ever.

"You used me to get over her. You fucking used me"

"Leah-"

Jacob's spine tenses at the sound of the deep voice. Within seconds he knows who the unidentified participant is. A deep swirling motion rumbles through his stomach and he can feel the weightlessness of nausea take him over.

"You know that's not what I said. Plus, you were using me to right? To get back at him, to see if he cared enough to stop you?"

"You really think I care what he thinks of me? I couldn't give two shits. He could run to the other side of the world for all I cared."

Jacob can tell she's lying and he wonders for a moment if the 'he' they are so animatedly referring to is him.

"Come back with me. Let's talk this over"

"I swear to God Cullen. You step one foot over that fence line your ass is mine" She snarls dangerously, her voice nearing the pitch of a pre-phase episode.

Jacob can feel the strength in her voice and he himself has trouble moving toward the two.

"Fine Leah. Fine. Have it your way. You know where I'll be. Come and find me once you realize you've made a mistake"

Jacob doesn't have time to catch Edward face to face as he steps through the shrubs but he does see a tiny slither of bronze moving through the trees back toward the household his family still owns. He wonders if anyone else knows Edward Cullen is still in Washington and not in France as the rest of his family was. He also wonders why Leah, out of all the people in the world would be talking – arguing – with a leech.

"Eavesdropping is rude. Or haven't you heard." Leah hisses as she stomps toward him to pass. Jacob wants to say so many things, ask her how she been, how the pack has been coping. He can see she's upset and his wolf so desperately wants to understand what is wrong with its pack mate. It wants to nuzzle her, groom her coat, and-

"I'm sorry" He offers, scratching the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"For what?" She challenges, her hazel eyes searching his face and waiting for a reasonable reply. He was always amazed at the way her eyes burnt a bright ring of green around her black iris when she was angry.

"Everything?"

"Yeah. Me too." She snorts, rolling her eyes as she strolls past, intent on leaving the area as soon as possible.

Jacob hates that the conversation between them doesn't flow as it once would. He hates that Edwards face swirls in his mind, and he hates thinking about all of the things Bella had once done with the disgusting bloodsucker. Out of instinct his hand snaps towards her wrist and he holds her tightly, not letting her move an inch away from him until he has the answers to the hundred or so questions that had suddenly popped into his mind.

"What the-"

"What is _he_ doing here?" Tugging at her arm Leah tries to remove herself from the vice grip he has on her but he won't allow it. He won't let her go until he has more answers.

"I believe he was stopping by for a cup of tea and a biscuit gov-na" Leah bites back in a cocky British accent which only instigates more anger inside of him.

"Seriously Leah-" Before he can go on she cuts him off quickly.

"Serious? Oh okay. Fine. Let's be serious then. What is it that you so desperately want to know, oh mighty long lost Alpha?" He can see the cogs in her mind spinning and he wants to tell her to stop, tell her not to antagonise him and to just answer the question.

"What is he doing here?"

Leah huffs and pulls her hand free, rubbing at the skin around her wrist which will no doubt bruise, even if the weight of the grip was unintentional. "He's not here to see Bella, if that's what you're trying to suggest."

"Why would he come here then? Why would he show up the day we get back?" He snaps back just as coldly.

"Oh my God! The world doesn't revolve around _you_ Jacob. Maybe we're friends; maybe me and the leech go and have picnics on First beach. Maybe I watch him drink the blood of animals and then we go skipping down Main Street in all his sparkly glory. Bella's not the only female around here if you haven't noticed."

"What are you saying?" He growls out, feeling his back tense and his hands fist. "Are you sleeping with the leech?"

Tugging a tie from her wrist, he watches as she pushes the hair from her face and neck to set it high on her head. "Vampire's don't sleep remember?" He knows she is trying to mess with him, trying to make him angry but is unsure of the purpose. This was Leah Clearwater after all, hater of all things supernatural.

Before he can ask her how all this shit started she brushes him off and begins walking towards Charlie's house. "Go back to your perfect little world Black. We don't need you here – don't want you here"

Jogging to keep up with her, he notices the way her pace quickens as if she were running from him. Being the fastest in wolf form gives Leah the advantage but as a human Jacob's legs are longer and make meters much quicker than hers.

"I thought we were friends Leah?" He calls out, and immediately cringes when she stops and spins on the balls of her feet.

He stands frozen when he watches her stalk back toward him, her index finger raised ready to serve out another whip lashing.

"Friends?" She yelps stepping so close he is unable to stop the rush of her scent from invading his personal space. She smells fresh, like the first rain, like fire, like the pine of the tall trees of the woods, like-

"You wouldn't know anything about friends Jacob."

"Leah come on-" He tries to start playfully but he knows she's not buying it.

"Just. Go. I don't want you here. No of us do. I don't want them getting their hopes up to think you'll stay. So just please leave – before you hurt anyone else."

"Lee – I -"

With a sigh she rubs the side of her neck, trying to relieve the tension there. Jacob feels bad, feels the need to comfort her somehow, sit with her, talk about old times, try and remember the good times they had, the time she spent with her parents.

He notices the way her fingers pull back away from her neck once her fingers brush the long thin scar, her eyes widening a little like she's remembered it's there all of a sudden.

"Bella's waiting for you" Leah jerks her head toward her back and he is surprised he hasn't noticed Bella standing on the porch with her arms crossed, watching them. "Wouldn't want to keep the love of your life waiting"

"Jacob?" Bella calls out; worried that Leah has come to start more trouble for Jacob. She never seemed to understand the connection belonging to the Alpha and the she-wolf and still blames Leah for Jacob being injured all those years ago. She'd heard word from Emily a while ago that in the natural course of the wolves an Alpha pair was always prominent, hence their closeness.

Bella wants desperately to believe that it isn't true, much like the annotation of imprinting. Even though they had explained it could happen at any time, she refused to believe that Jacob would leave her. She knew he would fight. When Edward called off the wedding and disappeared she was thankful that Jacob was still there, otherwise she may have not gotten through it.

"I'm fine Bell's. Go back inside"

With a roll of her eyes Leah turns back and continues walking toward the house, a small coy smile on her lips. She looks over Bella Swan and can't help but sneer at her. Leah never understood what Jacob saw in the girl. She was boring, plain, clumsy as all Hell and a horrible conversationalist. Trying to hold a conversation with her was about a useless as one of the pack member trying to hold a job. A waste of time and utterly pointless.

"Hi Leah" Bella whispers politely, her eyes slowly dropping to the ground as Leah walks towards her. Bella can feel the dominance radiating from the she-wolf and like many other animals it was unwise to hold their stare too long. She definitely didn't want Leah to think she was trying to challenge her.

"Swan."

"How are you holding up?"

"Fucking fabulously, you know, since my mother died and all. You?" Leah replies sarcastically making Bella cringe.

"I'm okay I guess"

The conversation is awkward to say the least but just before Leah pushes open the back door to the house she has permanent lodgings in, she turns to Bella and gives out her best, most charming smile.

"Oh and Bella - one more thing... Edward says hey"

With a small chuckle, Leah glides into the house, satisfied at the horrific look on the human girls face.

Oh how the mighty fall.

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><p>AN - I know, I know. What kind of moron starts a new story when the others are incomplete. My defense is... well... no, there is no defense. But! I have finished the next chapter of Purple Hearts and am having it Beta'd as we speak.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Twilight**

* * *

><p>...<p>

Entangled

[ II ]

...

_This isn't SM's version of Twilight, so yeah. Violence, Lemons and weird shit will go down in this story - It is rated M for a reason. Consider this your first and last warning. If your are uncomfortable with these things mentioned, leave now. _

_If you are not - welcome my pretties._

...

Jacob sits on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands as he contemplates his next move.

It had taken all of two minutes for Leah to grab her things from Charlie's house and leave out the front door without a word. He struggles to fight back the urge to go find her, to make sure she's gone somewhere safe like to her brother's home in LaPush. Part of his mind believes the idea while the other part of him is convinced she's gone to the Cullen's home to find some kind of redemption with the leech. He doesn't understand what pisses him off more; having Bella, who is by all intensive purposes, his girlfriend or Leah, his former friend and pack mate chasing an unattainable dream with the vampire.

He looks back at Bella's sleeping form, her body curled up and closed off from him, twisted beneath the lavender covers. While Leah's demise had been quick it had almost taken him three hours to get Bella to stop crying after the tiny statement from his pack mate. He'd always hated the way Bella cried and for the past fours years done everything to avoid it.

He tried to tell himself that it was more of a man thing than a Bella thing. After all, what man wants to witness a woman cry?

Kicking the edge of the wooden chest of drawers as he rises has him hissing silent curses to whoever situated the piece of furniture so close to the bed.

_'Fucking idiot'_

The room is cast in complete darkness as he checks to see if he has roused the distraught girl, only to receive a small whimper as a sign she is still asleep. It's been draining already and they have barely spent 24 hours back in Washington. He knows there is more to come and that eventually he will have to go to the reservation. He pales at the thought of all the questions from the pack, the looks he'll receive and the uncomfortable tension that will sit around them all.

Making his way out of the room and down the stairs, he studies the photos that hang on the wall as he makes his descent. Most are of Bella throughout her years in both primary and high school, of her as a baby and even one of the both of them in front of the small house in Phoenix they share. It isn't much but it's home.

He stops and studies a photo taken sometime ago. Sue and Harry are in the photo as well as his mother and a tall standing Billy. Both couples look happy as they stare at the lens, bright eyes and wide smiles adorned on each of them. He flinches looking upon all the blinding happiness and wonders if he and Bella will have a 'happily ever after' that neither of the couples in the photos had.

Noticing the kitchen light on he makes his way toward the beaming source, his throat parched. It's blinding for only a moment as he registers Charlie sitting in one of the wooden chairs, head down and his hands wrapped around a mug of coffee, using it as a heat source in the cold house.

"Charlie, are you okay?" He asks; watching as the man slowly raises his head and looks toward his direction. His eyes are lifeless; loss and heart ache apparent in them as if staring in a mirror.

"Jacob - sit down son. Would you like anything?"

Suddenly he doesn't feel thirsty any longer and shakes his head "No thanks sir." He replies, sliding unto the wooden chair across from him. "Can't sleep either?"

Chuckling lightly, the older man's shoulders slump in finality and a sigh leaves his lips. "It's funny Jacob-" Charlie starts, his demeanor seeming far away from the kitchen they sit in "- Funny how you can be so sure of the future and then all of a sudden life spins you on its axis and it all falls apart."

Jacob nods showing he is listening without speaking. Charlie's fingers tighten around the hot cup before he releases his grasp and drops his hands to his side almost as if in defeat.

"I miss her" Charlie breathes, taking Jacob by surprise in sharing the raw emotions hidden so well by the exterior. "I waited nineteen years to find her, and now she's - _gone_"

Summoning courage from deep within, Jacob clears his throat and looks over Bella's father. He has dark bags under his eyes showing his lack of sleep, and it seems as though he has lost weight already from his already lean frame.

"Was it worth it?" Jacob asks, almost horrified at his own question. "I mean - _everything_. Was everything worth _this_ ending?"

Charlie looks up at Jacob with a confused expression on his face. He doesn't seem to understand the question until he answers in a tired voice.

"When is love not worth it? I had three good years with Sue - years that I wouldn't take back for anything in the world. She knew I loved her and I had her love as well."

"Was she - 'the one' Charlie?"

A small smirk spreads across the man's lip, lifting his moustache slightly, and thinking over the young man's question. "Yeah Jake, she was the one" He nods out, knowing what he says is the truth.

Twisting his fingers together Jacob takes a deep breath, not sure how comfortable he is with asking Bella's father the next question without implicating his own feelings towards the man's only daughter.

"How did you know - that she was the one?"

"I _didn't_ Jacob. Not until she was gone." Charlie can see Jacob's eyebrows scrunch in confusion and continues.

"Love is uncomfortable enough without the task of putting labels on it. People talk about 'the one' and 'their forever' but the truth is, as everything around you changes, so does your interpretation of love. Love isn't supposed to be complicated. It just _is_ -" He shrugs.

As Charlie places his cup in the sink and runs water into the mug, Jacob sits in silence, thinking over the analogy the man has offered. While it's simple, it makes perfect sense, more sense than he has been able to string together in the last couple of days of his life and quiet possibly ever. In the past he'd so desperately been waiting for Bella to give their relationship a label instead of just letting it be what it was meant to be.

"Thanks" Jacob says quietly, running his palm along the edge if the wooden table.

"Don't sweat it kid. Go and get some rest, your father expects you tomorrow while I spend some time with my kid"

"Yes sir"

The kitchen is empty all to soon and the only thing Jacob can hear is the cogs in his mind spinning.

The birds wake him in the morning, the soft coo calling reaching his ears in the small bed. Feeling for Bella he finds her gone but knows she is not far by the warmth still in her place. He can hear the steady sound of the water heater as it works overtime to provide enough hot water for the humans in house.

Stretching out over the double bed he lays his cheek on the pillow and turns to stare out the window. The panes are old and even from the bed he feels the cold draft making its way through the cracks. While he isn't bothered by the cold he knows that with Bella's tendency to catch the sniffles that he will have to reseal the putty.

"Jesus Jake - cover up will you?" Bella hisses as she walks into the room from the hall, covering her eyes with one hand as the other reaches for a fallen pillow on the ground to throw.

Jacob catches it easily and instead of covering up his nude form he places it under his head.

"I thought you liked me like this" He replies playfully, wiggling his eyebrows as he watches her brush out the knots in her hair.

Her face is set in a scowl as she stares at the mirror, violently tugging at the wooden handle brush. Normally she uses such grace brushing through the thick brown mane, but this morning Jacob can feel the tension and knows something is bothering her.

"Bella? Everything alright?"

Bella brushes a few moments longer before she sighs and places the brush down on the dresser to slump down onto the edge of the bed.

After Jacob slips on his boxers he sits tentatively down next to her, grabbing her hand in his. The pout on her lips makes her look like a child sulking and Jacob finds it adorable.

"No" She finally whispers, as she watches him pick up her hand and press his lips to her knuckles. Usually the act would relieve the tension she feels but this time there is too much to dwell.

"Tell me then"

Taking a deep breath she nods. "Leah is here." Kissing her knuckles again he encourages her to continue.

"She's cooking breakfast like I used to. She's replaced me"

Bella bites down on her bottom lip thoughtfully, chewing the inside skin. Jacob wants to ask about the most obvious elephant in the room but he stays quiet. He wants to ask if she's alright with Leah talking and interacting with the leech but bites his tongue. He knows what he wants to hear but is afraid of hearing the alternate, of hearing something that will break his heart.

"I'm sure that she's only trying to help"

"Yeah - real helpful" Bella snaps back before realizing her mistake. "Sorry Jake. It's just - don't worry about it. I'm being childish"

A snort from the door takes the couple by surprise and Jacob can feel Bella tense up and clutch his hand. Simultaneously they glance toward the door to find Leah propped up against the frame, tutting a spatula.

"How sweet" She smirks as her eyes dance around the room which has remained unchanged since Bella's graduation. It amuses her, almost as much as the relationship in front of her does. Unchanged, boring, predictable; all these words describe what she sees.

"Shut up Leah" Jacob snaps, as he watches her smile widen. He knows she is trying to get under Bella's skin like she had last night and he knows she is succeeding.

"Big words, oh mighty alpha. You gonna back them up?" Leah snarks, glaring darkly at Jacob with murderous intent. When Jacob stays silent, she laughs and shakes her head. If she'd known it been this easy, she'd not have bothered. Her eyes try to stay focused on Jacob but she can't help her gaze from lingering over their intertwined hands.

"I didn't think so" She glowers, lifting her eyes to look over Bella Swan. The submissive look on her face has Leah bored out of her mind and her thought can't help but wonder to what Edward or Jacob see's in her to want to spend the rest of their supernatural life serving her needs. She can admit that while Bella was not ugly, she was not beautiful either. She was just another girl. The girl next door.

"Do you mind Leah?" Jacob growls, wanting to get rid of the evil half of the Clearwater siblings. Once upon a time they shared something in common, a heartbreak they could both relate to, and now - now they didn't know each other anymore.

"No" She answers simply, her shoulder still lent against the door. "Hey Bella, have you heard the one about the dumb brunette-"

Jacob can feel his anger spiraling and fights to maintain control. "Leave. Leah. _Now_." He hisses through gritted teeth, his jaw tense and his teeth grinding violently together. There is a leash around his neck and the longer she talks, the harder it is being pulled.

"Ohh - touchy" Leah challenges as she makes her spatula swirl in the air in front of her. "Anyway, breakfast is ready if you're hungry - unless you wanna wait till it's ice cold - right Bella? Just the way _we_ like it"

Only a second passes and while Leah is quick, Jacob is quicker. His hand clamps around the soft flesh of her throat as the other pins her utensil ridden hand to the wall. Broken plaster and rendering crumbles around them as he crushes her body against the corridor wall, their noses just touching, both wolves wearing identical snarls.

"Bad. Idea." Leah bites out as she drops the spatula and phases in the middle of the hall. Jacob doesn't have time to remove his boxers as he phases simultaneously in front of the silver wolf.

The only thing he registers are Bella's screams as Leah lunges for him and bites down against the side of his face. He can feel his blood pumping hot around his veins as he shakes her off and with lighting speed, snaps his jaws down on the top of her neck.

'_Too slow_' He sneers as he shakes her violently, the yelp of the silver wolf powering him on to continue his assault.

'_Just like your girlfriend_'

He growls, his teeth clamping down harder now, feeling the lick of dominance crawl up his spine. '_Apologise_'

He needs to have the silver wolf submit and his own wolf revels in the feeling of the task. It's been a long time in between drinks and while he runs as a wolf on occasion, he feels somewhat foreign in this form.

'_Only if you leave_' She shouts back, twisting and scurrying under his large legs to get free of the corner he's backed her into. Leah feels the missing chunk of hair and skin from the back of her neck gone, but her animal instincts have taken over and her mind is already strategising on how to take down the much larger russet coloured wolf.

'_We'll go when we are damn well ready to_'

His voice his deep and she can already feel the shackles of it start to bind her and weigh her down.

'_It'll never be soon enough_'

Before he can speak again she rushes him, taking his ear in her mouth as her claws drag over his back. Blood fills the soft gaps in the padding of her paws as she claws at his fur, inflicting as much damage as possible.

Shouting and screaming rumbles around them but is drowned out by the snarls and roars they release from their chests. Jacob can _feel_, rather than hear, the other wolves coming from a distance but stays focused on his current situation. He both hears and feels Leah's anger as it pours out of her mind and into his.

There is _so much_ pain and so much hatred he can barely keep his own thoughts flowing.

He sees her plan flash through his head and the moment he understands it he's already spinning out from underneath her and slamming her against the wall.

But the sound of the impact is too loud and a metallic ting echoes in his ears. Her body no longer fights back and as quick as she was a wolf, she's back as a human girl. Her eyes are wide and the sound of her heart is almost doubled in pace. Moving away from her body he finally smells the reason.

His head snaps backward toward the mortified face of Charlie Swan which accompanies his trembling hands. "Oh God" He breaths as his hands drop the rifle to the ground. "What have I done?"

Seth appears from nowhere, pushing Charlie away from the scene and kicking Jacob in the front flank to back him away from his human sister. He's mumbling incoherent words to her as he takes off his shirt and presses it into her bloody stomach.

"I wasn't aiming for her, she was in the way"

The smell of gun powder lingers in the air as more of the pack arrives. Embry grabs Charlie and helps the shock ridden man down the stairs, while Jared plucks a sobbing Bella from the bedroom and away from further danger. Quil storms in, ripping off the cupboard doors to throw Seth spare sheets in an attempt to stop Leah from bleeding out.

It's chaos in it's purest form with Seth barking out orders and the pack asking question after question, finding no logical answer in the mass.

"No - hospitals" Leah splutters as she feels her brother lift her from the ground, using his body to protect what modesty she claims to have left. She can feel the cold metal bullet lodged somewhere in her stomach, which counter acts with the hot blood draining out. She feels helpless knowing her body has recognised the wound and is beginning to make amends. Even though it hurts, it's only a small fraction of how she's felt before. Jacob Black has once again found a way to tear her in half without even laying a finger on her.

Jacob's head spins as he phases back to watch Seth pass Leah onto Embry, knowing his limp will only act to slow him down. This is the first time he has seen Embry since he's been back and he notes his findings were correct. They have _all_ gotten bigger.

"Give her to me. I'm stronger, I can get her help faster"

A resounding chorus of growls and hisses direct themselves at Jacob and he finds himself backing away, hands in the air to offer defeat. Embry gives what sympathy he can in a single look before he bounds down the stairs towards Charlie's cruiser with Leah wrapped around him.

Seth trembles as he looks at the blood covering his hands and chest. His mind slips back to when the vampires came to take the pack as guard dogs. The staining of his sister's blood ricochets him back into the past; of finding his sisters broken and torn body. The way they'd tortured her for information still lingers in the back of his mind, the way they'd spit upon her, cut her and broken her bones all rains fresh in his memory banks.

Glaring at Jacob, Seth takes a deep breath and fists his hands, causing his knuckles to whiten and realign under the surface.

"Run" Is all Seth offers before he bursts into a giant sandy wolf and destroys the rest of the plastered walls of the Swan residence.

By the time Jacob arrives back to the residence the sun has set. His injuries are still prominent but his femur bone is almost healed, though his hair is matted with crusting wounds and his face is soaked in blood. Washing off some of the blood in the ocean, he realises his russet skin is still stained red. It feels like he is wearing war paint, traditions of long ago that have since been lost with time. And while the war paint gives him courage, it does not give him resolve.

He'd been reckless today. He'd hurt Leah in a way he never dreamed of doing, _ever_.

Thinking back on the fight he had learned the hard way that while Seth lacks mobility in human form from the limp, it does not transfer over to his wolf. As always, Seth had fought with passion and with fury, Jacob quick to change his mind in underestimating the wolf once again.

The bite in the side of his face inflicted by Leah hurts the most, and he tenderly runs his fingers over the open gash. He wonders how her neck is and if they were able to pull the bullet from her stomach without too much hassle. She'd been lucky to have been wounded in the torso, as a head shot to either of them would have turned out the lights for good.

However his mind is still on the fact that in his altercation with Seth, he has learned more. While he could hear Leah's thoughts as they fought, Seth's were closed off completely. He has inkling that because he no longer belongs to the pack, the pack mind is not his to share in anymore. But what startles him most is that the discovery has only confirmed his fears of Leah's standing within the pack.

_'She is the Alpha Female'_

The sound of the pebbled driveway being crushed under his bare feet attempt to cover the hushed voices from inside the house, but as he gets closer it becomes as clear as day.

'I can't have him stay here Bells. This is Leah's home'

'Dad – This is _my_ home too'

'I understand that Bella. I really do. But I cannot have _him_ in here if he cannot contain himself. You saw what happened'

'Leah started it dad, she _always_ starts everything – you should have heard what she was saying'

'I don't care. Leah's been through more than both of you could imagine. She may have a sharp tongue but she respects me and she has kept this house together.'

'You're standing up for her! I can't believe this – you're _my_ father, not hers. You're supposed to be on _my_ side'

'Bella honey, there are no sides but the right one. It's final. I've called Billy to let him know and he is expecting Jacob. The tribal council also have to deal with his actions. He attacked one of his own and I assume that they won't go easy on him.'

'How do you know all of this? I thought you were supposed to be sheltered from all this stuff?'

'Being married to a member of the council kind of changes things. Four years is a long time Bella. Things have changed. My decision has not.'

'But-'

'Goodnight sweet pea'

'Sure dad'

Jacob doesn't wait around to be told he has to leave. Instead he snags a pair of Charlie's work pants from the line and tries his best to meander into them. The fit is tight and some of the seems fall away but it is tenfold better than having to track toward the reservation in nothing.

The track through the woods has him thinking about all the time he'd spend in these woods, searching, preserving, and protecting them. The trees are still tall and green, the ground still moist with off run of rain. It's quiet in the woods tonight, like everything is sleeping - or at least seems to be.

Billy is already on the porch awaiting his arrival. His father's face is set in stone as he pushes his way through the thick branches surrounding the property. The normally empty driveway is filled with several old cars and Jacob now knows the council has already been formed. Even though he is no longer a part of the pack, as the chief's son and heir to the great Ephraim Black he is answerable to them all.

"Inside _now_"

His father growls, a flick of his head indicating the path to the front door. Jacob stands at the mouth of the door, with his head hung low, awaiting the grumbling voices of the tribal council.

"Enter son" Quil's grandfather announces, ushering both Jacob and William Black to come closer.

As Jacob clasps his hand together ready to receive his punishment, his nostrils flare and a strong scent of fire hits his senses. The scent makes his spine crawl and he slowly lifts his head. Usually the panel consisting of old men has now been replaced. In their stead sit four faces he knows, three of which he knows intimately.

Quil Ateara Sr, Sam Uley and Leah Clearwater all sit at the head of the room on yard chairs that have been collected from outside, while his father pushes himself forward in his wheelchair. The dust on the floor boards tells Jacob that the decision to have the meeting in _this_ location has been rushed and furniture merely pushed aside.

He wants to look up, but with all four eyes watching him, it has him spooked. He feels threatened, like he is being backed into a corner with no place left to turn. Taking a deep breath he nods and stares up at the council, who wait to decide what they will have of him, what they will make him do - as punishment.


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own Twilight**

* * *

><p>...<p>

Entangled

[ III ]

...

The tension is thick in the air as Quil Snr whispers something in Leah's ear and pats her knee. It's low. Low enough to be hidden from Jacob and he hates the fact the all Leah does is nod her head and smirks. Her eyes remained fixed on him as if she's sharing in a secret with the old man, something that only the two of them know.

He breathes evenly to keep himself from growling at the two at the head of the room and attempts to hide his fists from showing them his displeasure. A slight raise in Leah's eyebrow and a crease in her top lip has him seeing red and it isn't until Sam clears his throat and stands that his eyes snap from hers.

"I want him banned" Sam says suddenly as he turns to the rest of the council in an attempt for them to hear his plea. Jacob wants to tell Sam to shut his mouth and sit back down and the Alpha growls underneath his skin to be set free and set upon the other male wolf. "He attacks the only female of our pack the second day he gets back. He is no longer a member of this pack and should be trialed as an outsider."

While it has never been done before Jacob knows the council has the power to do so. They can trial him, charge him with treason against the pack and tribe and forever forsake him from their – _his_ – lands.

But looking back at Leah he knows that's not going to happen. It's only a moment, but for a that single moment he sees the old Leah again, he sees the cogs working in her mind which have come to a decision that is both the best for the pack and the best for the council. She hasn't made it a secret that she wants him gone and he truly wonders if it is the result of what he has done _to_ her, or what he had failed to do _for_ her by leaving.

"Sit down and shut up Uley" She says calmly as she uses the flat of her palms to push herself from the chair.

It's now that Jacob realises the extent of her injuries. Her thin scar is still prominent but it's the purple hand marks around her neck that hold the most weight. The jumper she wears most likely belongs to her brother, as the collar is much too large for her slender neck. The hoddie bunches on her back and as the materials shifts it allows Jacob to see the teeth marks piercing the side of her throat. The marks are ugly and black, staining her once perfect skin to a degree in which he has to look away.

_'He did this'_

She scrunches her face and her hand holds her stomach, showing that while the wolves heal, the burden of pain is still worn by each of them. They are not like vampires who cannot feel pain, but rather like their true animal cousin's, the Olympic wolves. Pain resembles just another part of ones journey through life and in Leah's case; she seems to be coming to the end of hers.

"Leah, you shouldn't be-"

The she-wolf silences the old man with the butt of her hand, holding it in the air to stop him from continuing. He obeys as he should and sits back down into the chair he was about to rise from.

"I'm fine." She states simply, earning a growl from Sam who sulks into the chair.

_'She's not fine'_

Jacob can tell she is lying but doesn't say anything. He is still too caught up in checking her for additional injuries he might have inflicted. In the normal world what he did was inexcusable, to put his hands on a woman, but in this world - this one where they were both reduced to mere animals - this one was different.

…

"We need to talk"

His voice is gruff and disheartened but he knows it has to be done. He needs to figure all of this out before he has the chance to lose control again and has his strings from LaPush land cut for good by the council.

The punishment is weak, weak enough to know that someone on the council has a hidden agenda and had let him off lightly. He doesn't want to question the punishment in front of the others which is why he's followed her out to the parked cars, making sure to listen for the other males in the house.

"I thought I made it clear earlier Black, I don't want to hear _anything_ from you"

The way she moves tells him more than her words. She's tired, she's hurting and she'd rather be anywhere else but with him.

"Why did you let me off? Why would you do that for me after what I did?"

She stands at the mouth of the road, her eyes scanning the graveled drive. She's looking for something but he can't be sure of what. The night is cold and he can see the small pockets of heated breath leaving her lips as she breathes evenly. He can hear her heart as well. It beats faster than he remembers; much faster than Bella's.

"I didn't do it for you Jacob. I did it for the pack. While all of them are super pissed at what happened, they all know you don't deserve to be cut off from your father. He is a good man; you should spend time with him, talk to him, and do things before it's too late. He loves you very much."

Her voice is low when she speaks and Jacob almost has to do a double take to make sure it was actually her speaking. He doesn't know whether she has changed or it's him. Maybe nothing's changed. Maybe everything has.

"I'm sorry Leah"

He stills as she growls, her knuckles whitening as she balls her fists by her side and her back tenses. Her head is down and he can hear the deep breaths she is taking. He should have learned by now that apologising to Leah is something she doesn't want to hear.

"_Why_ are you sorry Jacob?" She's asking with intent and as his mouth flaps open and closed he knows he's made another mistake.

"I - I don't know. I just am Leah." Jacob wants to ask why it's so hard to speak to her, why his mind fogs and his tongue twists when he's around her. But most of all why his emotions increase tenfold when she'd around.

"Don't' tell me that shit. Just - _fuck_." She screams the latter into the night. There are demons inside Leah he can't see, doesn't understand and not sure if he wants to do either. "Come and see me when you figure out what you want to apologise _for_ and _then_ we'll talk"

Watching her walk off feels like the day he left, the day he went to Sam's house to tell them all the exciting news. That he and Bella were going to move and spend some time with Renee, figure things out and start contemplating their next step.

He remembers the look of horror on Leah's face before she dragged him outside and begged him to stay, to become the Alpha he was born to be. He'd sighed, hugged her and wished her the best of luck, wished that everything would get better for her and that she'd find someone worth fighting for.

It had hurt when she slapped him, her nails dragging across his cheek, as her own cheeks lay stained with tears. He'd hugged her again, trying to stop her from clawing at him and kicking him in the groin, with which she fought back. He told her he loved her, as she fought in his arms, and that she'd eventually find her happiness with a man that deserved her love.

By the time he let go, her eyes were puffy and red, her eyelids blinking rapidly and she tried to breathe through her pain. He thought she'd finally understood until she turned her back and walked away.

Calling out to her had been no use and when he'd expected her to come, two days later, to farewell he and Bella, the whole pack was present, except for _her_.

Seth arrives moments later, pulling Jacob from his memories, his own face and forearms riddled in scratches and near healed scars. He watches as Leah opens the car door and slides inside without another word. She doesn't even look back as the car begins to pull away and he supposes that maybe he deserves the silence.

"I'm sorry for leaving you - _all_ of you." He calls out, as the car fades into dark partially sealed road. Something inside him wishes that she's heard him but the wolf in him knows - she is already too far gone.

…

His father makes a dinner for the two of them consisting of eggs and toast. It's not nearly enough but Jacob is grateful for the gesture. He's enjoyed the long hot shower and change of clothes and instead of opting to hit the sack, he sits in the living room with his father. The TV is on low and Jacob knows that his father wants to discuss something with him, but is either waiting for the right time or is unsure of how to start the conversation. He hadn't kept his father as close as Bella had when they'd left and now he wished he'd made more of an effort.

"Your sister is getting married in April" Billy says, his eyes still fixed upon the flickering box in front of them.

"Which one?" Jacob asks leaning his chin on his palm and glancing at his father to sigh. He wants to be interested but his mind is so far away from the living room he is surprised he'd even heard the old man.

"The one that isn't"

The answer is cold and has a tiny bite of frustration attached to it. Sitting up in the couch Jacob straightens his back and tries to look in the least bit interested.

"Right. How is Rachel anyway?"

Billy eyes him suspiciously at the new found interest his son has taken but answers anyway. "She's still in Seattle. Her thesis will be finished in February and after that she'll be coming back home for a while. Might even bring me that grandchild I've been asking her and Paul for"

His father chuckles and the mood seems to lighten.

Jacob's face scrunches with disgust at the thought of his sisters with - _anyone_ - let alone Paul. "That kid will be the reincarnation of evil."

"No child is born evil Jacob. No matter how much of a pain they are"

"We'll see" Jacob laughs, imagining Billy saying the same thing once the kid figures out what super glue is and sticks it in the old man's hat.

"It's good to see you smile son. I've missed the life you bring around this old lonely house."

"Thanks dad. I've missed you too" Jacob smirks at his father, knowing that the old man is grateful he is here but won't say the exact words. Maybe his banishment from Charlie's house is a blessing in disguise.

Slipping back into a more comfortable mood, Billy and Jacob sit back and try to catch the end of the game playing. It looks like an old game, maybe taped off the television a few years back, but Jacob doesn't say anything and leans back into the old couch his mother used to sit in with all three Black children. Thinking back on his mother Jacob glances around the room and notices how her pictures still hang in most of the photos. He doesn't know if it's a method for letting go of or holding on to his mother's memory.

"Hey dad"

"Hmm?"

"Do you want to - I mean -" Taking a deep breath Jacob rakes a hand through his hair and shakes it out. "Do you want to visit mom - _tomorrow_ - with me?"

...

Seth drives in silence through the dark night. He wants to tell his sister that she is making a mistake by going there but he lets it slide. He's been dropping her at the house for over three months now and he still doesn't know what's going on between them. He wants to scream at her, lock the car doors and sped away from their on route location but he knows deep down, that she needs _him_ somehow.

"You attacked Jacob"

Her tone is even and Seth isn't sure if she is upset by the revelation or if she is glad he stood up for her. The ways she makes the statement isn't a question because she already knows.

"Yeah" Seth huffs out as his grip tightens on the steering wheel.

"You shouldn't have done that"

She is calm, he sees that now. Her fingers are delicately tracing the door window, running imaginary lines across the glass as if she sees a secret pattern that his wolf eyes are not privilege to.

"I had to."

Sighing his sister turns in her seat, a look of displeasure across her face. "I can handle it Seth. He'll be gone soon anyway and than we can go back to normal."

He bites the inside of his cheek, holding back words he so desperately wants to say.

"_But_ - thank you."

Her smile lightens him for only a moment, until he realises they have reached the forefront of the property. The trees around the gated entry have long since died, the care once given by the family no longer intact. The drive up the narrow service road is long and slow, and he makes sure to take it with ease given her current state.

Long vines wrap around the trees of the drive, some even running with roots along the once sealed road. The congealment has given way and the asphalt crumbles at the sides, it's body subjected to large pot holes and ditches. The water fountains at the front entrance no longer run, black weeds and lilies filling the once jubilant feature. The walls of the house are riddled in over grown vines and old mildew sticks to the clammy walls, making the once welcoming and maintained home look empty and abandoned. Void of any life.

"Are you sure about this?" Seth asks as the car rolls to a stop and an inside light of the house turns on. Without even seeing him, Seth knows Edward is inside. He can smell the cold bleach stench from the car and it heightens his senses automatically. His wolf is not happy with the fact that a pack member will be so close to a vampire, _especially_ the Alpha female.

"Are you going to ask that every night?" Leah chuckles as she leans across the middle console and places a soft peck on her brother's cheek.

"Yes" He grumbles out as a crack in the door appears and out steps a blur of bronze. It seems like a long time ago that he got along with the Cullen family. After the Volturi's invasion, coupled with the fact that the family of leeches, that they'd protected for so long, had not warned them of the danger coming, he no longer trusted anyone but pack. Human's had a chance to gain his trust but vampires - vampires were off limits. Even his once good friend Edward.

Leah cringes and clutches her stomach as she tries to climb from the car. Before Seth has a chance to get out of the car and help her, the bronze haired leech is already by her side, opening the door further and using his body for her to lean against.

"Hello Seth" Edward drawls, nodding kindly at the wolf even if though he doesn't respond. Not anymore.

"Well then, let's get you inside shall we"

Leah is in his arms and he helps her walk to the front door. Their skin tones are a stark difference to one another and in some aspects look as though they were as different as day and night. While all of Leah's features are dark and coffeed, Edward's are pale and faded. _Both_ holding the immense beauty of the supernatural.

Seth feels the ripple of shifting bones run along his spine but stays seated in the car. He can't look back as he drives away and heads back to the reservation. He only hopes that one day Leah is going to tell him what goes on it that house when he leaves at night. That day unfortunately, not soon enough.

...

"They really hurt tonight"

Her voice is soft as she lifts her arms gently to allow him to remove her over-sized jumper. It probably smells like Seth but he doesn't say anything as he helps her to sit on the bed without stretching both her stomach muscles and back too much.

"Lift your arms again" Edward says softly as he bunches the material of her shirt at the hem, ready to pull off the smaller shirt she wore underneath the mass of material. It this wasn't such a normal thing between them she may have felt embarrassed slightly.

She rarely wears undergarments anymore and as Edward lifts her shirt over her head, letting it slide over her hair, she reaches to cup her breasts.

"Are you okay to lie on the bed?"

"I think so" She murmurs as she crawls and adjusts so that she is on her side and her head lies against the old pillow.

Slowly Edward unbuttons the dark green dress shirt, his long fingers taking their time to loosen every single one before slipping the material over his solid pale shoulders. "They're looking a little better"

Closing her eyes tight Leah nods, feeling his knees weigh down on the bed as he shuffles toward her.

"I hope so" She breathes shakily as she feels the first part of the cold touch her back. It hurts, but in a different way to than they usually do.

"They're so ugly" She murmurs, embarrassment and hurt running across her face as his hands run up and down, slowly, tenderly, pressing his palms to the scars as if preparing them for the deep chill of his chest.

"I think they build character" Edward smiles as she eyes him from the corner of her line of sight.

There is not much feeling in her back anymore but she can feel the inner monster of her soul leaking out on to her skin. Some of the scars are deep and run vertically down her back while others are shallow and branch out over her spine. She wants to laugh at the coincidence but she can't find the heart to. Sam was now, not the only thing her and her cousin shared.

Coming to Edward and using him for his cold hands and body seems to harbor the only relief she can find. Not even ice makes the hurt disappear.

The Volturi had been ruthless in their attack, unyielding and most of all - _merciless_. Had Seth not found their nest, sniffed her out, she feared that she would be nothing more than bones and ash sinking into the dirt beneath them.

"Breathe" He whispers, running his hand up and down her arm.

"I can't"

"Breathe Leah. In and out"

His words offer comfort for only a moment before her mind drifts to him comforting Bella Swan the same way. It moves something inside her and she can't help grimace.

"Do you still love her?" She asks, her voice low and almost totally void of any emotion.

Pressing his forehead to her shoulder blade and leaving a gentle kiss their, he sighs, knowing it's not wise to lie to her anymore. While he'd been at her mother's funeral the day before, he'd had to leave hurriedly, smelling that same strawberry scented human that he once orbited around. It was too much to handle, too soon. He had to start with small doses, slowly introduce her smell back into his life.

"Yes."

Silence engulfs them as he kisses her opposite shoulder blade, feeling the thin scars under his lips. It takes a moment to realise that tears have clouded her eyes and her breathing is jagged and wasteful.

"I have to go"

Not wanting him to see her cry again she slips away from him and throws the jumper on, shielding him from looking at the scars any longer. She feels like a mirror image of the confederate leech, though she doesn't have scars on the rest of her body, she sees the one that runs over her face. It reminds her constantly of what has happened, what could happen again if-

"They won't come here again. The wolves are too many, they know that now"

His voice doesn't dwell any of her fears as she leaves him lying alone in the bed, in the deserted, dead house. It was once a home but no longer. Once alive - but no more.

...

Bella awakens early, dressing to meet Jacob at his father's house. After getting a call from him in the middle of the night she'd made a promise to visit before he and his father went to see his own mother's grave. She offered to come but he kindly refuse telling her that it was something that he and Billy had to do together.

Hoping from the old truck, Bella quickly makes her way to the door with some of Jacob's things. Toothbrush, clothes, underwear; all important things he'll need while at his father's house. While her own father doesn't back down from his word, she doesn't mind the silence. Living with Jacob was great but not having time to herself and her own space was tiring.

"Hi Billy" She waves, bouncing up the stairs to see the old man's son. She can see that he is busily tying new lures to his fishing rod. She laughs at the fact that Billy and Charlie have identical rods which are no less than 20 years old, most probably their first.

"Hi there Bella. He's already up, around back"

There is a small smile that she doesn't catch from the older man as she bounds through the house and out the back. Taking in the people in front of her she places the items down on the porch and strolls toward Jacob, this time slower and out of the way of the other men who are rough housing together. There is this buzz around the pack, she can feel it. It feels like energy, weird electrical energy and it has the hairs on her arms standing up.

"Bells, you're here!" Jacob smiles as he picks her up, spinning her a little before pecking her on the lips. "Come meet the new guys"

Bella seems taken back by Jacob's sudden excitement and tries to show as much enthusiasm as he does. He seems much happier than normal and this would have to be the first time in forever that he has been awake before noon when not working.

"Guys, this is Bella. _Bella_ - Troy, Will, August, Brent, Chris, Lionel and Nelson. The newbies"

She follows his hand as he points out each of the men in front of her. They all resemble Jacob slightly with their black hair, large frames and russet skin, but each still has a special trait or personality of their own. Troy's hair is chin length while Brent's head is completely shaved. Whereas Chris has a thin narrow nose, Nelson's is prominent and wide.

She finds them friendly and tries to sprout conversation where she can. She envies Jacob's ability to be able to just slip into a crowd of people he doesn't know and suddenly he becomes the center of attention. He talks to them about their first phases, their families, how old they are and if their still in school.

Looking back at August, Bella furrows her brow and tries to think of what to ask the young boy. Nelson had been sweet and charming and she wondered if August shared the same traits.

"So - what subjects in school do you like? I used to like Chemistry"

"I hate school" He scowls, refusing to look at her, biting harshly into his apple causing the juice to gush out around his lips. "Especially Chemistry"

Bella sighs at the fact that she's been left with the most unfriendly of the younger wolves. "I like apples" She smiles, twiddling her fingers trying to make conversation.

"I _hate_ apples. My mom makes me eat them"

"Of course"

Bella doesn't try anymore and simply throws her hands up to the sky. She supposes that August just didn't want to talk like Nelson and the others had and tries to slip away without being grimaced at.

Walking away from the young wolf, she freezes catching a glint of silver from the front of the house. She has to squint her eyes to make them focus on what it is. Moving back toward the house from the yard, she walks quietly up the side of it, stepping over broken wooden furniture and carpet from the house which has long been replaced.

She feels stupid trying not to make a sound, and when she hears the low murmur of voices she leans up against the red wood of Billy Black's home and tries her best to hear what the pair are talking about.

'Are you feeling better this morning?'

'Only slightly. Thanks for last night'

'You didn't have to sleep in the woods, you know.'

'I know. I just - I don't feel like I belong in that house'

'Okay well, I'll see you this afternoon or perhaps tonight?'

"_Bella_, what are you doing?" Jacob asks with the usual grin on his face. "The guys want to hear about Phoenix. I told them that they _have to_ hear the story about how me and you first found out about Rattlesnakes. Come on, they're excited"

Jacob pulls her away from her hiding spot, back toward the yard and back into the thick of things. She can feel her face heating in anger and tries to swallow the lump congested in her throat thinking about the conversation between the two at the front of the house.

A soon as she saw the silver glint of metal she should have known it was _his_ goddamn Volvo.

* * *

><p>AN - Are you excited? 0.0 I am so fucking excited right now *squee* I love that some people are on the fence with Leah's behavior toward Bella and that some don't even know which side they're on...<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own Twilight**

* * *

><p>...<p>

Entangled 

[ IV ]

…

Leah's eyes meet the old man's as she turns from the silver car pulling away down the road. She knows he's been listening to their conversation but doesn't make light of it as she walks slowly up the old concrete slab the pack had lay over three years ago. She'd thought it a much better way for Billy to maneuver around, seeing as he was left in the big old house by himself, with Charlie and her mother the only real people who regularly visited besides the pack. It's mouldy and needs a good scrub so she makes a mental note to get one of the boys to pop around with some bleach and a hose before it becomes worse.

He'd been a tough old man to begin with, pushing away any helping hand that was held out for him, but Leah didn't like taking no for an answer, so their stubbornness met equally in the middle like fire and water, extinguishing each others intentions. Just like the stubborn asshole that was the old man's son.

As she makes her way closer and up onto the wooden porch she can see that he is wrapping an old fishing line, baiting it with new sinkers and a colourful lure, hoping to reel in the biggest catch of the day. The way he holds the lure magnifies it's blue and orange hues, the sunlight hitting the tip before rolling across the rest of the mirage of colours. It reminds her of the oyster shells she'd collect as a child, the way once the flesh was peeled back, the shell itself would shine.

Looking toward the old man his brow is farrowed and she's not sure if he is merely concentrating or thinking of ways to begin a conversation with her. They talk easily normally, the familiarity always present from years of common ground between them. But since Jacob's arrival, it has become somewhat – harder. She knows that Billy would go to the ends of the earth to protect Jacob, his only son, but there is a certain point in which she wishes he would just stop. Jacob doesn't need his protection. He is his own man and is accountable for his actions _and_ reactions.

"I'm still not so sure about allowing one of the Cullen's on reservation land - especially Edward. Where there is one, _many_ follow" He sighs out as he threads the last loop hole on the line.

Tying it off he places the rod to the side and looks over at Leah who sits upon a wooden chair, her legs drawn up and the face of contemplation she always wears, present. He wonders how he missed her transformation from girl to woman as he looks over her face. The way her lips have filled out, the light sprinkle of freckles on her nose and cheeks are not as prominent as they once were when she was a happy ten year old. Her hair has grown out again, framing her almond shaped eyes and her slender nose, reminding him of her mother who was the most beautiful girl on the reservation once upon a time.

"But if you say you still need him-" He lingers on the sentence turning what shouldn't have been, into a question.

"I do" Leah admits simply, shrugging her shoulders and casting a look back to the ground.

Even after the status in her pack ranks her the highest, the chief's position remains solemn and in it's rightful place; the very top. She knows he is uncertain and untrusting of Edward, especially after all of the things that had gone on in the past. Never the less, she knows that if she still needs Edward, the chief will willingly oblige it's pack leader.

"August is here"

Billy tries to smile, lightening the mood for only a moment. He knows how she changes for the boy, how the instinct of paternalism shines through and he knows how happy she is when she is with him.

"I know. I asked his mother to send him."

"Leah-" Billy starts with a sigh, his old eyes looking weary and tired, much more tired than she would like to notice.

"She say's he is failing in school. He's just _so_ angry. I don't know what to do" She continues without looking at the older male, her sights set intently on the road as a car drives past the house with a wave of the occupants, and slowly disappears again.

"He should know who he is - who he _truly_ is" Billy grumbles, knowing it's the last thing Leah wants.

"Not yet, it's too soon"

She knows he wants to reach out and take her hand, reassure her of life, of what challenges lay ahead and how much she should be grateful of what she has, but she doesn't want to hear it. Doesn't _need_ to hear it. His words of encouragement, of hope, always leave her feeling worse for wear. His words always seem to build her up before the inevitable crash back down to earth.

_'It will always be too soon'_

Shaking her head Leah rises from her spot, intent on greeting the pack and making sure Jacob is holding up his end of the deal. To be asked to guide some of the younger boys for the time he was back in LaPush seemed too light for his punishment from the council, but Leah had gone with Billy's idea, especially considering the thought that August could use all the help he could get from the disappearing Alpha male.

"Thank you Billy, for everything" She mumbles before ducking her head and disappearing inside the red wood house.

...

August walks into the living space; his long legs making the distance from the back yard to the living room seem shorter than it really is. Without any invitation he sits on the floor, nestling himself between his Alpha's knees, her legs stretching wider out to make room for him.

His back presses up against the bottom of the couch as his long legs stretch out in front of him, probably making the position rather scandalous because he looks like a man and not the unsure, often angry young man he really is on the inside.

She feels smaller than she really is when she sits behind him, but he likes the feeling of talking without the pressure of her dark eyes on him. He knows she'd never judge him, but the liquid hazel pools make him feel as though he was letting the pack down for his outbursts. Letting _her_ down.

Without saying anything he feels her long slender fingers start to comb through his long silky black hair, one of the few traits he has picked up from his mother at birth. He also shares his fathers green eyes and dimpled cheeks but the discomforts of the last months have made it so no one ever has a chance to see them between the scowls and glares he shoots out. No one understands him, except for her, not even his own mother.

He almost purrs as he rests his cheek on her knee, careful not to crush any ligaments and listens to the way she breathes as she strokes her palm against the top of his head.

"What did you do?"

Her voice is sweet and but a whisper, lacking the aggression he hears her use on the others in the pack. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knows he is her favourite but never mentions as such for fear of being pushed away. He knows she keeps up the metal façade, the metal heart, because after everything that has happened; only metal can keep her together just enough to go on.

"Mum doesn't want me at home anymore."

He can feel her shuffle closer as she splays her hands through his hair, tugging gently on it to get any leaves or broken branches that maybe caught in the tangles. He loves when she babies him, when she takes it upon herself to be more of a mother than his own ever could.

"Is it her boyfriend?"

He closes his eyes and sighs, clinging partially to her knee, knowing that she is the only one that could ever understand being second best. He wants to whimper when she brushes his cheek with the back of her hand, but holds it in for fear of looking weak and useless. He wants so desperately to be a good son but he feels awkward and out of place with his foster mother and finds it hard to connect on any emotional level with her.

"He told her that I am just a waste of space and should disappear like my father had when I was born"

Leah can feel her teeth grind together aggressively with the sudden uptake of beats her heart seems to be pushing out. She can feel her fingers tighten on his skull before she realises that the grip should not be aimed at the young boy but rather the stupid woman that had taken him in as a child.

"I'll figure something out." She sighs as she lays her chin on the crown of his head and hugs his neck. "Let me ask around, we'll find you somewhere"

August sighs and clutches her forearms which wrap around him. "Thanks" He grumbles.

His sights had been set on staying with her but it's a well known fact that Leah doesn't stay in one place too long. Most of her stuff is at Charlie's place but he knows that she hasn't stayed a night there for the past few weeks, mostly opting to sleep as a wolf in the forest. Sometimes when he can't sleep at night, he phases in the forest and attempts to find her. He can see her swirling dreams through the mind link but can't ever seem to find her physical form.

...

Seth stands in the doorway, his shoulder propped against the frame, watching the two embrace. His leg aches for a moment before he clutches the thigh muscle and rubs it down with his palm. Today has been a good day, but most are not as pain free as this one. Maybe it's being with the rest of the pack, maybe just being with his sister - he isn't really sure. He hopes that tonight will be the same, it's the only thing he truly asks for anymore once the sun goes down and he's all alone in the big old house from his childhood.

"Hey" He says quietly, walking toward the couch and sitting down next to his sister who continues to embrace the young wolf.

"Hey Seth" Leah smiles as she turns her head toward her brother. The cuts across his lips and forehead are now healed, leaving only red lines as proof of what had gone on between him and Jacob only a day before.

"Seth"

"How are you holding up kid?" The older wolf asks the younger one to gauge today's emotions.

Eyes blink at him for only a moment before he shrugs and closes off the deep green orbs. Seth already knows August has been having a tough time with his foster mom and her new boyfriend, but he wants to hear it from the young boy.

"Good, I guess" His voice is drawn out and weary, earning another hug from Leah before his sister slumps back into the couch, though close enough to play with the ends of his hair.

Seth knows August has grown up so fast in this abnormal world in which they all find themselves, much like he had to, but the extra stress placed on the young wolf is often daunting and overwhelming. August's life center's so much around secrecy it is often hard to remember that the kid barely knows anything about himself. Only a select few of the pack know about him and his past - know his ancestry and his bloodlines, and few further agreeing to allow him into the pack. If it hadn't been for Leah-

"I think it's time for you to eat." Leah smiles, slapping August's arm to shift him from his spot between her knees and to stop the prominent frown and worry lines creasing on his face. "Go on. We'll be out soon" She promises, needing to speak with Seth alone for a moment.

Nodding and pulling himself up August makes sure to kiss Leah's cheek before he leaves the living room.

"Thanks"

He's learned over time that arguing with the Alpha female of their pack was useless. Leah's word was law, at least it _had_ been until Jacob Black showed up with his pale face girlfriend.

Seth leans back, angling slightly to the side to be able to look at his sister's face. She seems calm to an extent, but there is an underlying pain in her hazel eyes, flickers of green and black sparkles in the orbs she's had since she was born. He can see that the purple bruising around her neck inflicted by Jacob is finally starting to fade and turn a light yellow colour against her tan skin.

Unconsciously rubbing at his thigh, Seth conjures up the courage to begin the conversation much to his displeasure. The subject is taboo at the best of times, just the way his sister prefers it, but the blinding intrigue and worry is killing him and he needs an answer.

"How is Edward?"

Seth's voice is low, but not low enough to wonder if Leah hadn't heard the question. He can see the cogs in her head moving to think of an answer that would end the conversation between them, could see the mask she tried to keep on desperately, afraid of being found out.

"Fine." She answers lowly, her hands tightening on the arm of the couch.

_'He's still in love with Bella'_

Seth shifts closer to wrap a loose arm around Leah's shoulders and kiss her temple. Her tears haven't fallen yet but he can smell the faint resolute distinction of salt as she shakes her head. He wonders why she's always believed that strength and anger are the most reliable emotions of the spectrum. While he loves her, he doesn't appreciate some of the choices she's made.

"And how are _you_ Leah? Have you slept yet?"

He knows she hasn't. The small puffy pockets of dark skin under her eyes proving so. Seth doesn't have the luxury of calling sleep his friend either the last couple of weeks due to the throbbing pain of his leg and the recent passing of his mother, but his suspicion tells him, it's twice as much as she's gotten over the same period.

"Sleep is overrated Seth, or haven't you heard?" She snorts, laying her head on his shoulder and taking a deep breath.

Seth wants to ask since when had she decided that he couldn't be trusted with her feelings. Since when had he become to weak to burden the load of her problem's or fears? Since when had the big steel wall erected itself between their kinship?

"_Plus_ – I can't sleep. I'm just too damn busy" She chuckles but the sound falls flat as he glances over to her, opting to take his gaze from the several family photos and old fireplace in front of them.

"Share the load Leah. That's what the pack is for. We all know you can't do it by yourself. If you would just ask some of the- "

Leah cuts him off with a small sigh. "I can't ask them to give up time with their families Seth, and those without families are still either in high school or are making the transition into college. I couldn't stop this life happening to me, or to them for a matter of fact, but I can ensure their futures change."

"And what about your future sis? Have you contemplated that? What are you going to do to change your own circumstances?"

Leah remains silent while Seth waits for an answer. A long time ago before Sam Uley, their father's passing and prior to being a wolf, his sister had dreams. Big dreams. Dreams that would see her leave the reservation and probably never return. He used to love watching and hearing her talk about how she was going to go to New York, go to college, go out with her friends and walk down the pavement shoulder to shoulder with movie stars. Phasing had put a stop to all of those dreams, rendering her a prisoner of the pack. With her tenancies to a quick rising temper she never even had a chance to turn her problems around. She was going to stay on the reservation forever, and there wasn't a damn thing she could do.

…

Edward crouches down as he touches the petals of a single weed that has grown in the cracks of the pavement. The small white flower attached to the weed is pretty and soft, soft enough for it to crumble under the pinch of his fingers.

Picking it up tenderly, he stands, twirling it in his fingers as he heads inside the deserted house. The house is no longer alive, no longer thrives like it once had. Once filled with family, the house lays bare, white dusty cloth covering each piece of exquisite furniture. Furniture from each corner of the world, wood from the rainforests of South American, old teak settings from Thailand's ever diminishing hills, silver and glass from France and it's neighboring countries, even mahogany from the snowy mountains of Australia.

Glancing only briefly at the white shadows in the space Edward makes his way toward the stairs. Grey cloth covers each photo on the wall and he wonders how his family is, whether they are happier, whether they are still living blissfully and ignorantly as before? He wonders if he could ever leave this place and not regret the decisions his made, the decisions that had been inadvertently made for him.

Sitting on the edge of the bed he looks to the photo on the mantle, the only true photo he has that reminds him why he is still here, why he doesn't pack up and leave to join his coven in Europe. While he detests the many mistakes he has made in the past, the person in the photo is not one of them.

He wishes somehow that had life been fair, had life had any status quo that maybe his sins would have dissolved by now and that his slate would be wiped clean so the sins of the father would not be passed down to that of the son.

Thumbing the photograph he lets out a disheartened sigh and closes his eyes. Years from now he will wonder where time went, why things couldn't be normal and that had he been given the chance, that maybe, just _maybe_ – he could have loved her more_. _At least enough to have raised a family together.

…

Grabbing the corner of the wooden table from the back of Embry's truck, Jacob nods at his old friends hoping that the help he gives is received well by them. He'd been waiting for Quil and Embry to arrive and as soon as the table hits the ground he smacks Quil on his back earning him a punch to the chest.

"How you been boy?" Quil hollers, his chin length hair in desperate need of a cut.

"Good man. Really good" Jacob chuckles, shaking his head at the playfulness that is his best friends. Even though it's been a long time between drinks Jacob can feel the ease of familiarity build around the trio. "And you Embry?"

Embry purses his lips and gives out a crocked smile as he holds his left hand up. Jacob is confused at first until he notices the plain silver band around his friends finger. It strikes him as odd at first until he can see a curly haired girl sitting in the passenger side of the beat up blue truck.

"Oh shit. You got married?" Jacob shouts as he gives Embry a well deserved hug. He can't believe four years has changed so many things while keeping them all so familiar and warm.

"Yeah. Last spring. Woman of my dreams."

The smile on Embry's face is genuine and Jacob wonders if he is ever going to feel the same with Bella. They've contemplated marriage before but Bella seems content with just keeping things the way they are. She had admitted that marriage wasn't for her and that being the center of attention was the last thing she would want as a bride with the white dress deal.

While Jacob hopes that in the future her mind will change, he isn't as hopeful as most would be.

"Honey?" A sweet voice calls from the passenger side of the truck making Embry perk up and slide back to the door. With whispered words a casserole dish is passed through the window and tucked under Embry's arm as his other opens the door handle which has the tendency of getting stuck.

"Hi guys" The girl smiles and waves as Embry helps her from the truck by her hand.

"Hey Charlotte" Quil waves before wiping his brow with the back of his hand, removing the pent up sweat from moving furniture for most of the morning.

Her brown eyes wander over the group until she spots Jacob and cocks her head to the side a little. Her curly brown hair bobs on her shoulders as she looks from Embry to Jacob with a little smile graced upon her lips.

She is shorter than Jacob would have imagined Embry's partner would be. Her nose is slightly turned up and her chin has an amazing looking dimple smack bang in the middle. She's cute and the fact that his friend has gone for a fuller figured woman makes him chuckle.

"I _know_ you" She smiles, pointing at Jacob with a knowing look on her face. "There are photos of you guys down at First Beach and you're in all of them."

Embry wraps his arm around his wife and kisses her temple softly, showing her as much tenderness as he possibly can. "Char – this is Jacob Black. Jake, this is my beautiful wife Charlotte, soon to be my baby mumma"

Embry huffs out a breath as soon as the woman's elbow connects with his stomach. With a small cute glare she turns back to Jacob to shake his hand. "Nice to finally meet the one and only Jacob Black. I've heard a lot about you"

Taking her soft hand Jacob grins. "Whatever he's told you - it _isn't_ true. So – pregnant huh?"

Charlotte's face pales for a moment before she shakes her head. "No. But we're trying" There is a slight tone of disappointment in her voice but she manages to shake it off before it becomes noticeable to the group.

"But like they say – practice makes perfect right?"

Embry doges another attack to his side and laces his hand with his wife's before dragging her over to the table to lay down the delicious smelling potato salad she's brought along and made from scratch.

"See you around Jake" Charlotte laughs out as Embry drags her further and further away.

"Sure, sure"

Turning to Quil, they both proceed to pick up the opposite ends of the table and carry it over to join the others. Picking up one of the table cloths Jacob spreads it out over the table and continues on to do the next. With five tables lined together they have managed to create a table long enough for all the pack members to be seated while they eat lunch, together as a pack, for the first time in a long time.

"She's native right?" Jacob asks as he straightens out the edge of the table cloth, pegging it under the edge to make sure it doesn't fly away in the slight breeze.

Quil answers with a raised eyebrow, probably curious at the random question. "Yeah man. She's a Raven from out west."

"As in Darryl Raven?"

"Yeah man. But don't worry. Charlotte isn't a prick like Darryl was in school. She's actually perfect for Embry."

"Good."

Jacob remembers the way Embry used to run home from school and hide in his bedroom until his mother came home. With Darryl Raven, Embry was an easy target. The boy was much larger, older and stronger and would find any reason to pick at Embry whether it was his hand me down clothes from other families on the reservation or the food in his lunch box. Darryl made Embry's life hell.

"How's Clair?"

"She's good man. She just started first grade at the beginning of the year and she loves it. Who doesn't like pasta shell necklaces and ABC's?"

"That's great. Hey – do you mind if I ask you a question? I mean, you don't have to answer it if you want but-"

"Spit it out Jacob. Whaddaya want to know?" Quil laughs at he spreads the next sheet out and flattens it across the table.

Taking a deep breath, Jacob nods feeling the pressure building in his back. "When Leah phased back, she had something on her back, like scars or whatever. I didn't get a close look but they – they're everywhere"

Jacob can see that Quil has paled significantly and that his eyes are trying desperately to look anywhere but at him.

"I just wanted to know what happened is all. But like I said, you don't have to say-"

"When she was taken by the vamps, they did things that none of us would have ever survived. They wanted information she wouldn't give so they literally tore it from her skin. She – it took months for her to be able to walk again, they broke just about everything."

"Why did they take her?"

"Man look – I'd love to tell you why but none of us know. We've asked, trust me. But she hasn't told anyone why. She's good at hiding things Jacob and I don't think you want to be the one uncovering what's trapped inside that girl. She was getting better, but you coming back has just tipped her reality. She – she's hurt Jake"

"You've seen it in her thought's?"

"I don't need to read her mind bro. Girls are different from us man. They fucking remember _everything_. It's like their brains are set in stone and anything that has happened throughout their lives becomes relevant in certain situations. You know for a fact that Leah doesn't forget anything. And if she can't forget, she can definitely _not_ forgive. She's had it tough, you know?" Jacob can see Quil's thoughtful face and knows that maybe his once naive friend has finally grown up.

Letting out a shake of the head and chuckle, Quil slaps his back and pulls him toward the rest of the group. "So just, enjoy your holiday and then go back to your life in Phoenix man. Once you are there you can forget all about us again and go on doing what you're doing"

"Quil, I-"

"Don't sweat it Jake. We all know the deal. You're in love with Bella and you want to be happy. I'm sure we'd all do the same for the right girl"

"I never meant to leave any of you behind."

"But you did. Look, I gotta go get Clair from her kindy swim classes alright. I'll come back later, we can talk or whatever it is old friends do."

Before Quil bounds off he glances at Jacob and shrugs his shoulders. Jacob doesn't expect the hug but takes it in stride anyway. It draws salty tears to his eyes and he can't help but draw his attention to the back door of the house as a tall lean woman steps from behind the rickety screen door and onto the porch.

"I missed you man"

"I missed you too Quil."

"It's good to have you back. Even if it is for a short while"

"It's good to _be_ back" Jacob nods, pulling away and out of the hug he's needed since he arrived.


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own Twilight**

* * *

><p>…<p>

Entangled

[ V ]

…

It feels strange being seated all together at the lengthened tables. There's a hum in the air and Jacob shifts comfortably in the feel of its presence. It's been a long time since he's felt anything so powerful and somewhere deep inside it puts him and his wolf, at ease.

Glancing to the head of the table Jacob isn't surprised to see Leah and Seth sitting on each side of his father. They look like they belong at the chief's side, younger wolves flanking each of them out of respect and for their unconscious protection.

Jacob isn't sure if his presence has caused the original pack to sit closer to his end of the table or if they feel uneasy with Leah being in such close proximity to the imprints; her least favorite members of the pack.

Though witnessing the conversation earlier between Leah and Embry's imprint, Charlotte, he suspects that the original pack has only done it out of respect on his temporary return and nothing more. Leah had honed in on Charlotte and caught the curly haired girl unaware by placing her hands over her eyes. His brother's imprint seemed to have recognized the she-wolf instantly; barraging into a string of excited and almost incoherent conversation which only another female seems to understand. Jacob had tried tediously to listen to the conversation but had only caught Charlotte's half which had consisted of how community college was progressing and that she insisted Leah try her new apple and folded cream pie.

The pressure of Bella's small hand squeezing inside his brings him back to the present and he is curious over her sudden tension. While Bella had never been completely comfortable with the pack she knows that Jacob has enough pull to protect her should things turn pear shaped.

Feeling a pang in his chest, Jacob rubs over the surface of his shirt to ease the tightness that is constricting his insides. Guilt is a ratchet emotion and Jacob has felt an over powering sense of the once rare emotion, continue to build while present in LaPush. He knows that while Leah had been out of line that morning, he had also taken his over protection of Bella too far. To physically hurt Leah without an inch of remorse at the time had left him feeling the full emotional hit afterwards.

He'd treated her unkindly in all aspect's; abandoned her, left her with the weight of the pack, left her with his responsibility and most of all; left her open to attack.

Looking over at her, his eyes catch a younger wolf who angles himself in front of his view, slightly shuffling his chair forward discreetly as to not gain the attention of any of the others around the table. Jacob brushes it off as a coincidence until the young wolf's eyes lock with his and the corner of the cub's lip lifts up in a threatening manner.

There is no growl but Jacob knows it is supposed to be a warning directed at him for whatever reason.

As his father clears his throat and begins to bless the food, thank their ancestors for their health and loved ones, Jacob tries to remember the name of the young wolf Sam had introduced him to. For some reason the cub's name lingers on the tip of his tongue but he can't quite find the sounds. With an eyebrow raised Jacob stares at the young cub, his eyes narrowing to match his admirer and his lips pulling back to show his eye teeth.

But just as quick as the threat had been made, it is ended.

All from a soft touch on the forearm from the Alpha female. Jake watches as Leah squeezes gently on the cubs arm without ever taking her eyes off Billy. A shiver runs up Jacob's forearm and the doubt inside him makes him look down to see if something has touched his skin.

Something is happening and he doesn't like it. The skin of his arm shivers again as if someone were softly petting him. The feeling is strange and it scares him to think of how strong he felt the act between the two, even from the opposite end of the conjoined lunch tables.

_'May those who eat with us now, who share this table and our hearts, be always protected'  
><em>

Shifting his gaze from his father and back to Leah he can't help but swallow as the wind softly blows the table cloth along with her hair. The dark waving tresses blow enough for him to get another peak at her healing neck. Light yellow bruising cups the long slender column, speckling present scarcely under her jaw line. He'd definitely been too rough with her, too enraged to think clear enough to regain the control he'd worked so hard to find while away from this place.

_'What has been for many years; will continue to be for many to come. Those who protect the Quileute way, this tribe, will be forever honored by those who have passed before them.'  
><em>

Feeling another squeeze from Bella's hand Jacob leans down and whispers in her ear. He knows that with all the wolves at the table there is little chance their conversation will remain between them, but his need to make sure she is okay overwhelms the lack of privacy.

"Bells - you okay?" His soft voice accompanies a short squeeze of her thigh to gain the attention he needs.

He can see the displeasure on Bella's face and her line of sight intrigues him. Out of everyone who knew about the wolves, Bella is the last person on earth who he'd figured would try and stare down a she wolf - the Alpha female to be more precise.

_'So here we sit; one pack, one tribe and one people. For when the winds calm and the sea whispers flatly, when the mountains no longer move and the rain no longer falls - we remember.'  
><em>

Jacob knows that the challenge can be seen by everyone at the table and alerts Bella to the fact that they know what she's doing and that she is treading very closely into dangerous waters.

_'We remember who we are and that we are a strong people; that we are capable of many wondrous things and capable of more than we realise. Be at peace"  
><em>

"Be at peace" The table answers before Collin's whops and the rest of his brothers are reaching for trays of mouthwatering food and Emily's homemade gravy.

"She thinks that because she's beautiful, she can do whatever she wants"

Bella's answer stuns him for a moment causing the spoon of the potato salad Charlotte has made, to slide from the edge of the dish straight into the dark swirls of creamy gravy. In a collective, the wolves near the couple freeze, before realising that the words from the girl's mouth are meant for Jacob's ears only.

With an awkward smile, Embry grabs the tongs from the tray of fry bread to fish out the fallen spoon, savoring what embarrassment he can from Jacob. He is not sure who Bella is talking about but has a fair suspicion.

"Everything okay, son?" Billy calls from the head of the table, dragging his eyes down the line of wolves. Embry knows that Billy does this as a silent warning to all the cubs that misbehavior will not be tolerated at _his_ table.

He can feel Charlotte frowning as the spoon is fished out and she passes along a tissue for her husband to wipe it down. She had asked him who the girl that had been hanging off of Jacob was earlier. As he explained she'd nodded, not so much in understanding but that she was listening.

"Sure dad"

Taking a seat Embry places the spoon back with the potato salad as Charlotte begins piling greens on his plate. He manages to smile weakly at his wife who knows he is not a particular fan of vegetables, but allows his disgust to fall on deaf ears every time he mentions it.

"Bella? Child, are you okay?"

Embry can see why Billy is concerned. Bella's cheeks which are usually flushed with embarrassment, bare the mark of anger. She is gnawing at the white enamel of her teeth in frustration while her small fists are balled, whitening her knuckles. Glancing at the other wolves, Embry can see that they're all trying their hardest not to get involved by lowering their heads, even the usually smart mouthed wolves quieter than a mouse.

A snort from the end of the table has Embry closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He knows that snort of humor and which feisty she-wolf it belongs to. He exhales deeply when he finds Jacob talking in low whispers to his girlfriend, trying to coax her out of this unusual mood.

"Bells, what are you talking about?"

"_Her_" She whispers with malice, her eyes gleaming with some kind of bravery she's managed to conjure up from God only knows where. "You are all so blinded by it. You all think that because she is beautiful, that she can do whatever she wants."

"Bella, you know that's not true."

"Then why are we down here while she sits with your father Jacob? Do we not have that right?"

Before Jacob answers, a low chuckle comes from the seat beside his father followed by the sing song voice of a woman not afraid of anyone. "_Pleasant_- isn't she?"

"Enough Leah" Billy sighs, shaking his head.

Embry can feel the hum around the table almost increase ten fold as emotions begin to run hot. Taking Charlotte's hand, he eyes the younger wolves knowing that their loyalty to the Alpha female is their highest concern and the task of keeping level headed is still just a pipe dream to them. In the drop of a hat, any of the humans could be harmed and a Sam/Emily repeat is the last thing they all need.

"Actually Billy, everything is _not_ okay" Bella announces, standing much to Jacob's dismay.

"What is she doing?" Charlotte whispers into Embry's ear, not entirely sure what is going on. Colin and some of the other wolves are still trying to pile food on their plates, opting instead to save the pork and dough boy's, instead of defuse the situation.

"It speaks" Leah smirks as she slaps a ladle full of mash potato on Augusts' plate before reaching for the braised ribs.

"You're such a nasty person"

"Ouch, that one hurt Swan. Better try again"

"I – I" Bella stutters trying to expel the negative energy from her thoughts.

"We're all waiting honey-"

"No wonder _everybody _leaves you. You're unlovable"

Bella gasps, covering her mouth with wide eyes as she realizes what she's said. The look of horror on her face is identical to Embry's, something which he is certain.

In tandem the pups nearest Leah growl out, hearing the insult laid out by the pale face. Even though the human belongs to the Alpha male, they glance at each other, their eyes gleaming, knowing that the Alpha could take them one at a time, but not all together as a unit.

_'Take the Alpha down, attack his flank'  
><em>

The snapping of a wooden ladle has alerted the humans to the imminent danger they are in. Each not wanting to be in the line of fire, their backs straighten and their thighs are braced, ready to push back from the table should the need arise.

Embry wants to tell Charlotte to run back into the house, but the sheer movement could tip Leah over the edge. Ever since she'd been taken, the wolf inside her did not respond well to sudden flashes of movement, her skittish behaviour caused by the torture of her captives.

"She didn't mean it, Leah." Jacob announces pulling a wide eyed Bella back into her seat. "Bella, what are you doing?"

With a mask of calm Leah places the shattered ladle down and pushes from the table to get up. Her cubs whine and whimper wanting to know if she's okay and their adorning eyes shine with hunger at the food they still haven't touched.

"Leah - don't leave. Please sit back down and let us enjoy this lunch together" Billy pleads with her, motioning back to the lawn chair.

"_Together_?" She spits in mock hurt. "When has this pack ever been about working together?"

Embry can see the tremble move along her spine, the intensity making his own crawl just from witnessing it.

"She's sorry Leah" Jacob calls out in frustration, his palm slamming flatly on the table causing the cutlery around him to jump. Embry growls out a warning, letting Jacob know to keep his cool; having a repeat of the previous day not on his list of things he wants to see again.

"Oh will you _fuck_ up!" Leah snarls, her eyes set on the Alpha male, his presence alone stirring on her anger. "Stop defending that pathetic excuse for a human being. If that's what we are supposed to protect I don't want any part of it.

Get up Bella! Step out of Jacob Black's shadow for once in your miserable life and grow a back bone. You're still hiding behind him, still using him as your own personal protection. Not even he can protect you-"

"Stop now!" Billy yells, motioning with his fingers towards the imprints and instructing them toward the house.

Embry already has Charlotte snagged and drawing her back, his fingers spread widely over her stomach, just in case their 'practicing' has produced a slither of vulnerable life.

"Stay back. Do not move to fast. Go to the house and call this cell" Embry says quickly as he fishes out the phone in his pocket and presses it urgently into her palm.

"I can help calm Leah down-"

"No! Char, listen to me-" He softens looking over her face while keeping the table in sight "Do this for me baby, if you got hurt - there is nothing in this world that will ever stop me from protecting you. I'll take care of Leah, you go"

"She's my friend"

"I know baby - _go_"

Once Charlotte hurries toward the house, Embry turns back to the scene in front of him, astonished that the table has not yet been flipped and phased wolves have not torn through it.

"Watch yourself Leah. You're crossing boundaries which you cannot pass" Jacob snarls as he snatches Bella behind him.

"Fuck you and your hero complex Black. You lay your life down for _her_ and forget so easily about me-"

Embry knows she's made a mistake, an error due to her anger, but as she remains hard set, Jacob softens and his breaths calm.

"Leah - you _know_ I couldn't have given you what you wanted. You _know_ that I had to leave. I _never_ meant to hurt you-"

"But you did! You left and you didn't even bat a goddamn eyelash Jacob! We were supposed to be friends. You said you understood. Now it's _me_ who will bare the marks – forever - that were meant for _her_."

Gasps catch the wind, and Embry knows another mistake has been made. It's tiny, but all who had seen the she wolf once Seth brought her home, unconscious and bloody, knows what she is talking about.

"They came for Bella?" The emotion is thick in the air; the cubs all back a few steps not knowing what to do.

Leah's face is as hard as stone and she doesn't care to answer Jacob, opting merely to stare in his direction. Embry can see the hurt and knows Jacob can too, his true Alpha always visible to the fact that Leah Clearwater hides it well.

"Leah, come on" Seth whispers, hovering behind his sister, ready to snatch her waist if she tries to lunge. "Let's go before-"

"Before what, Seth? Before Bella finds out that it should have been her in my place? Before she finds out that the Volturi don't leave unfinished ends? She was supposed to die for her leeches; _she_ was supposed to die - not me!"

Silence engulfs the area and a pin can be heard dropping. Wolves shift uncomfortably while the cubs whimper at their female's statement. Jacob stands, his eyes hard set and his jaw clenched shut learning of this revelation. It sparks in his mind that bringing Bella back to the place where the vampire lords had come looking for her, was maybe the worst idea he has ever had.

"Why didn't you tell me Leah? Why didn't you fucking _warn _me? Bringing Bella here -"

Jacob stops, noticing the sad and disappointed faces of the pack looking at him. Embry himself can feel the immense displeasure his wolf has with his Alpha.

"Jacob - were supposed to be a family, we _are _pack. And yet you still think of nothing but - her." Seth replies lowly as he shakes his head. "She was going to marry him, remember? She was going to let him turn her; change her into one of them. Can you not see? You will never be Bella's first choice. You're a fucking rebound Jacob. And my sister has suffered because Bella wasn't here. Because Bella didn't keep her end of the bargain she made with those Italian vamps."

More silence.

"If you would have told them where Bella was, they wouldn't have hurt you?"

Embry doesn't realize that the voice is his own until Leah glances his way.

"And risk them killing your best friend? You know I couldn't have done that, but trust me - I wanted to. I wanted Bella to experience _everything_ that happened to me - but you know I couldn't do that."

Leah answers Embry truthfully, not bothering to sugar coat anything for the frail human. Turning to Jacob and Bella, Leah wrinkles her face in disgust, regretting already the words she has yet to say.

"No matter how much I hate you both, I could never sentence you to death."

Taking a deep breath Leah turns her back on the pack, pushing her fringe from her eyes as she adjusts the hem of her jumper and fiddles with the hood. It feels like it's clinging to her skin but over the last couple of years she's gotten used to hiding that which she hates the most. Even with the horrible marks, not one of them knows how much more scarred the inside is, how much more _that_ hurts, how much more pain she is in from things she cannot reach.

Clearing his throat Billy looks sadly toward his son and his girlfriend, glancing at all the pack before laying his eyes on Leah's back.

August is hovering near her, his hand ghosting near her waist, unsure if he should touch her or not. The fact that Leah let's him so close has Billy content that she will not harm him, or phase to close to him for fear of such.

"Leah love, are you alright?"

Billy's voice has a soothing effect but she tenses. Once Embry realises it's not Billy, the scent of vampire has reached the other wolves noses, simultaneous snarling erupting from each member.

"No"

Her answer has taken the old man off guard and he stumbles to find words to say. Instead he watches her shake away from Seth's hand upon her shoulder, and stuff her own in the pockets of her cut offs.

"Lee-"

She slips away easily, using the side of the red wood home to meet her vampire, who she knows has been called for her packs safety.

Nothing more is said as the pack try to right chairs that had been knocked over and try to salvage what is left of their reunion lunch.

...

Closing the door to the old truck, Jacob let's Bella start the engine before placing his hand inside to cut the beasts rumble. Resting his forehead on the sill of the door he sighs loudly and groans out his displeasure.

"What happened today wasn't your fault. It could have happened at anytime."

He is trying to convince Bella that Leah's outburst and the revelations made would have happened sooner or later, the prior coincidentally happening today of all days.

Bella nods but with her gnawing on her lip he knows she is still leaving things unsaid. He wants to comfort her somehow but the dreaded guilt is still heavy in his gut from the lunch scene they had caused as a duo.

"It's my fault Jacob. They came to check if I was one of them."

"It's _not_ your fault Bella."

Jacob swallows and closes his eyes briefly to shut out the remorse also building around his fragile heart.

'_They had done this to Leah'  
><em>

"I know their secret Jake. They don't allow humans to know about them. What if-"

"They're not coming back. I swear."

Bella nods again, doubt sparkling in her brown orbs. He knows that it is time for her to go and slowly restarts the engine for her and watches as she backs out of the drive.

He cracks the tenseness in his neck as he smells a young wolf approaching, his scent strange in an ever present way. Turning around slowly he is greeted with the green eyed cub, the one that had sat closest to Leah and the one that had given him a set of steely looks.

The cub is smaller in height than he and leaner than most of the pack. His black silken hair is tied back and he is so close Jacob can see the light spray of freckles over his nose. His skin is neither russet nor dark, its form taking an olive color, indicating a boy not of full blooded Quileute heritage.

But there is something that catches him off guard, its detail is so small, but now standing almost nose to nose he sees it.

'_His skin illuminates in the sun'  
><em>

"Why are you here?" August growls dangerously, snarling in Jacobs face and making sure to push the other male's personal space bubble to the limit.

"_Excuse me_?" With an eyebrow raised Jacob looks directly into the cub's eyes and can see the younger male fight against the urge to lower his gaze. The eyes are familiar somehow but he cannot place them.

"What are you doing here? You keep hurting her! Why did you come back?"

"I never meant to hurt her."

"Not 'meaning' to and not 'doing' are two totally different things. If you didn't come to make things right, then _why_ are you here?"

Growling and snapping in the boys face, Jacob hisses back lowly. "Get out of my way kid. You wouldn't understand anything"

"Oh I understand alright. You come back here, flaunting that pale face in front of her, like Leah is nothing."

"What are you taking about?"

"You are supposed to be the Alpha _pair_. Leaving and not wanting your position in the pack is like saying to her, without your cowardly words, that she isn't good enough to be an Alpha. That she isn't good enough for _you_-"

"You have it twisted _cub_. I never said that"

"You didn't have to. Make her cry old man, and I'll kill you next time"

Jacob grits his teeth and tries to hold back his words but fails miserably.

His heard of such things as the cub in front of him but has never ever seen it in real life. There had been stories long ago of human women barring a vampires seed but this was just unheard of. To be Quileute and to also be half monster was close to impossible. To also be pack was another step in the unknown realm of an already supernatural world.

"Old man? How old – _exactly_- are you - half breed?"

...

The wind moans as the two of them stand in front of the cold headstone which now is the only resting place for a woman they both loved in life and still do in death. While Billy smiles lovingly at the photo of his wife set against the grey slate, Jacob pales, taking in her big warm eyes and warmer smile.

It's been a long time since he's come to this spot and the aching burn reminds him _why_ it's been years.

He's never liked this, never liked being face to face with the reality that his mother is gone and is never coming back. He's always wished that they'd had more time, another chance, but looking at the headstone just reminds him of things that could never be.

_'Sarah Black - Loving wife, mother and friend. With a love that could never wilt, here she lies, amongst angel's'  
><em>

"He is - _from_ her - isn't he?"

Jacob keeps his voice steady, his breaths even as he asks his father the question. Remembering the horrified face of the cub before he phased and ran toward the forest, still remained burned clearly in his retinas.

"Yes." Billy answers curtly, his small smile dropping to a frown.

"And he doesn't know, does he?"

"No"

Silence engulfs them and it is deafening.

"How could this happen?"

"Leah is driven by the same genetics that run through all of us, son; the need to be held, the need to be loved and even the need to be intimate. You cannot judge one, while having faults in your own heart."

Jacob hates the way his stomach turns in disgust, the way his anger boils thinking about the cold hands upon her body that would never be good enough for her. He wants to scream at his father for letting such a thing happen but who is he to judge, and who is he to stop anything his former friend does or does not do.

"Did she - is she in _love_ with him?"

He cringes awaiting his father's answer, much like he had awaiting Bella's once upon a time. He hates that he cares so much and hates that it feels like Leah has betrayed him in a far deeper way than he ever could do to her.

"She needs him, but not in the sense you think. He eases her pain, helps her see past the scars. He offers her relief from the burning marks, if only momentarily"

Jacob frowns at his father's words but allows him to continue.

"Edward is only allowed on the reservation because of Leah. The moment she is healed, his free pass will be lifted and the old rules will apply again."

"When did he come back to Forks?"

"He came back once he heard that they were looking for Bella. He came back to half the reservation in tatters and a broken Leah. He used his hands to heal her, helped her by reading her mind and catering to those requests. Once she could walk their closeness had formed, and once the pack realised the bond, she had already made a dire mistake."

"He is - her son. _Their_ son"

"Yes Jacob, but you can tell no one. August does not know and Leah wishes as such. As his mother and the Alpha of the pack, it is for the best. He knows nothing about his linage, and nothing about the mixture of blood he possesses - not from one, but two supernatural beings."

"How old is he?"

"He is twenty eight months old and far more advanced than anything we have ever seen. His strength gives him power but his control weakens him. He struggles to find the balance he needs to become something great - _someone _great."

"_Jesus_-"

Jacob captures his breath for a moment and rubs a hand over his face to ease his turmoil. To think that coming back would give him some closure proved he was wrong, once again.

"This can't be possible. Leah shouldn't have been able to procreate. She's - not like other women. She's a protector, a warrior."

"She's _also_ a woman Jacob. A beautiful woman who has seen so much death, it is only natural to protect that to which she gave life. Even though her wolf is a big part of her, it was the woman who birthed a child, who found shelter with the only - _creature_ - that would touch her after the damage had been done by the Volturi.

Even Sam, who loved her so much once, could not stomach the sight of her scars.

She is but a woman son, a woman who seeks love as we all do. No matter what form it comes in"

...

The sheet is draped around her thin waist exposing to him what she fears most. The road map of scars, pierce her flesh so intimately, Edward can almost hear their story; feel their pain.

Running his cold finger over the tracks of one of the deeper scars to provide relief, he feels her flinch away, his touch unknowingly scaring her as much as it helps.

"I thought you were asleep" He whispers into the darkness knowing that she can hear him regardless of her current state.

"I _don't_ sleep. Sleep is for the weak, sleep gets you killed"

"You are safe here Leah" He murmurs as he kisses the length of her neck and wraps his arm around hips, pulling her into his cold chest. She is not a prefect fit against him but he feels that over time maybe their bodies will intertwine and align with each others.

"I'll never be safe Edward. Not ever"

_'Not when you're running from what's inside of you-'_

* * *

><p>AN - Yes... another chapter and hopefully some questions have been answered and replaced with more. To those reading my other fics - 'Dark Side' is almost ready to post, 'Tear me' is half way done, as well as the next chapter of 'Taboo' (After all, Lemons are always appreciated).<p>

Thanks to all those reviewing - *eyes you all* - the things I would do to you, if only I had the chance...Grrr ;)_  
><em>


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not own Twilight**

* * *

><p>…<p>

Entangled

[ VI ]

…

Sitting on the edge of the fountain at the forefront of the house, is where she sits.

Her hair falls in waves like black sheets of satin, her knees tucked up and her feet baring no shoes, even with the sharp grey gravel surrounding the area. He finds her beautiful; in a way every man would, but there is something else between them - a barrier as such - that stops them from falling in love with each other. Sometimes he thinks that it's always been there, even from the beginning.

It's primal, the need that brings them together - _true_ love having no pull on either of their hearts.

She is left empty and battered, bruised and broken from a life time of unrequited love, while he doesn't have a heart to give; his heart already belonging to another without choice.

As Edward walks from the confines of the house in his dark grey slacks, he reaches upward to slip on a white dress shirt, which he's become accustomed to. Without the perils of Alice he is left to his own devices, dressing and washing clothes which only he deems fit. There is relief in being his own man, choosing how he looks to the out side world, and though he appreciated the constant nagging of his smaller sibling, he appreciates _more_ - being in control.

Partial areas of his skin catch the sun light through the dark tree tops and darker clouds, illuminating the area in rays of light. He wonders if like a diamond, he too will one day fade and no longer be as bright and able to cast an electrifying mirage of colours. He wonders, if he too, will one day need fixing, repairing and buffing out.

"You left" She states simply, her head down as she studies the fountains black murky water. Gone are the Koi fish that swan in the waters; in their stead only over grown vines and muddy lilies.

"I had to hunt" He replies smoothly, strolling slowly toward her to stand by her shoulder. Peeking over the top of her head, he tries to get a look at what she is staring at but finds his view obstructed. "What are you doing out here?"

He feels her sigh rather than hears it as he wraps his fingers in her hair.

"I don't like that house" She mumbles as she picks at the hem of his shirt dangling near her arm. "It's - it doesn't feel right"

Grasping her hand to stop her from tugging at the loose strand on his shirt, Edward scoots her over with a pat on the hip and slides down next to her. "You always say that, that it doesn't feel right. I want you to tell me why, Leah. Tell me why after all this time you still hate _this_ house"

After a moment of silence she looks up at him and frowns, her big hazel eyes shinning with immense sadness.

"It's you Edward. It's the way you look at it, the way you look at each room and you remember. I know you are remembering _her_, the way you used to be - when you were happier. The house makes you remember."

Taking a deep breath Edward rests his chin on her shoulder as his arms reach around her. "It's not that I don't love you Leah-"

"I know, I know" She nods "It's that you love her _more_"

Chuckling softly, Leah wipes her eyes of what tears have fallen. "I really wish you and Jacob would lie sometimes, you know. Just pretend that I'm enough for once. It gets really shitty always being second best"

"I'm sorry" Edward remarks, kissing her shoulder.

"Me too." She smiles as she strokes his arm. "So very very sorry"

...

Pulling the red jumper back over her shoulder's Leah feels the slight prick of heat burning in her back. Phasing had not become harder _necessarily_, merely more painful. The scars didn't like to be stretched, didn't like sliding out and having hair sprout from the torn flesh when she transformed. If she had a choice she may have decided that she would no longer phase, no longer be a part of this world. Had Sam let her go off to college like she originally planned then maybe she wouldn't be what she was today. Maybe she would have had a chance; had babies she loved, had a career, a husband that came home to her and kissed her sweetly.

It wasn't that she didn't love August. She did love him. More than she could ever imagine.

It had been hard watching her boy grow up so fast, in the space of just over two years he was practically a full grown man. A very confused grown man no less. He knew that he was different, even compared the other guys that phased around him. He grew faster than any tree of the forest, than any child born around him; and had it not been for the Alpha command she lay on every single pack member, they would have constantly asked about something he himself, did not know.

Giving him up had been the worst self inflicted day of her life. With those bright green eyes, all the dark hair upon his head, the tiny baby cries he emitted when she'd handed him over.

Definitely the worst day of her life.

Leah wanted to feel bad for Edward, she really did.

He'd only held August for half the day before never seeing him again. She doubted herself, what she was giving up, as she watched Edward holding their son as he strolled the gardens around the Cullen home. With August and his bright eyes he took in everything with his father, cooed and gurgled in delight as Edward pointed out the trees and the different animals strolling the grounds. When night fast approached, he'd placed his son high above his head and looked up at him as the sun fell in the horizon and muttered words Leah couldn't hear.

It had been a good day. A day that unfortunately would end no matter what either of them did.

If they had loved each other, they might have had a chance. They might have been able to fight for their family, fight for what seemed so impossible. But they didn't, so they wouldn't.

August didn't deserve to have parents that would not love him as they should, that could not even love each other, nor themselves. At the time it had seemed a better option, the only option.

But _now_ - now things had warped and twisted so acutely, Leah wasn't sure which way was up and which way pointed a straight path to Hell.

"You are thinking too hard again" Edward smirks as he strolls through the trees to meet her, his bronze hair seeming shorter than normal.

"You cut your hair?"

This time it's Leah who wears a smirk. She now knows what the pixie vampire was useful for.

"Jesus, you did" She snorts, pulling at the ends and noticing the uneven trim around his ears and near his temple.

"Does it look bad?" He smiles, kissing the inside of her upper arm as she continues to tug the strands.

With a loud squeal Leah slaps the back of his head. "You are an idiot. You look like you just escaped from the Asylum."

Picking at a few slithers of bronzed hair on his shoulder, she weaves the top button of his shirt loose to reveal just a teasing space of skin. "I really loved your hair and now I am going to have to fix it"

Kissing his chest, Leah feels him shiver and is grateful that she has - at least - this much of Edward. A part that Bella Swan has never had.

"I have something else that needs fixing too"

...

Dominic Hoquim could never imagine his home run by another; imagine the head of the household without him. As the man he was the head, the emperor; the ruler of his land, responsible for all who would dwell upon it.

And with a iron fist, he would keep it that way.

At 37 years old age he knows he has earned the right to live as he pleases, come and go as he pleases and even take as he pleases. The walls belong to him, the furniture, the den, the people living beneath his roof - and it would all continued doing so until he allowed it to do otherwise.

It perplexes him as to how Georgina could ever think that he would allow her bastard kid to roam at all hours of the night while the little tyrant lived under his roof. In _his_ kingdom. Had they not continued to receive payments the council had managed to obtain from the father, Dominic knows for a fact that the kid would be thrown off what belonged to him.

Even with the payments, the kid is too expensive; his endless amounts of clothes, the amount he eats when he decides to finally grace them with his presence; it's too much. Money was being wasted on the kid and not enough was being left for them. Him.

The money could have been going to better items of purchase, items which would in turn return their worth of the amount they'd cost. Like the mid size fishing boat Dominic had seen for sale at the docks, a fancy, larger sized home over in Forks instead of the humble brick and timber home that he'd inherited from his thankfully departed daddy.

If he could be honest with himself, the only reason he was letting those two stick around was because of those said payments. With Georgina so blind and willing to fulfill his every wish, he was able to swindle amounts off the top of the kids money and enjoy a night out more often than not.

With his taste for sweet dark bourbon served with ice and his egotistical need to prove himself in high waged betting within an exclusive group, he himself was just managing to stay a float. But once he locked Georgina in with marriage, the ring having been the first step, they'd adopt August and crack open that big juicy trust fund his white daddy left him.

Dominic feels a shiver of pleasure move through his spine just thinking about how much money would be in the account, with interest earned, and all the things he'd be able to do with such a large payday.

"Georgie!"

He calls out into the dark home as he flings open the door, the silver handle smashing on impact and bouncing off the wall behind it. He smells the aroma of dinner wafting towards his nostrils and he quaffs, realising that she has once _again_ cooked casserole. He'd been so sure he'd told her earlier - no more of that horribly dry and tasteless loaf she had a tendency to make. The woman sure couldn't cook, not even to save her own life.

"Damn it woman, I thought I told you-"

His snarl falls as he finds a young woman seated at the edge of the modest dinning table.

Her bare legs swing back and forth and the animal inside him purrs as his eyes sweep their length. Black tresses fall around her shoulders and he is disappointed to find her in a jumper, instead of something small and revealing to match the shorts. Her hands are holding the edge of the table much more forcefully than one would expect, her knuckles paling from the sheer grip.

"Well _hello_-" He smiles crookedly, adjusting the collar of his red flannel shirt and re-creasing the edge. While long in the tooth he has never had trouble picking up the younger ladies, his charm and down right forwardness working a wonder on most whose inhibitions had been left at the bar along with their half dozen empty glasses.

The woman looks up at him with a strange expression on her face, her head cocking to the side in contemplation.

Licking his lips he strides forward as he peeks around corners of the kitchen, inadvertently checking the adjoining rooms. He smiles at her as he realises that their all alone in the big ole house and his pants tighten imagining all the things he could do with her.

"What's a pretty little thing like you doing here - in _my_ kitchen?"

When she doesn't answer he takes another step forward and reaches out to lean down, his palm pressing into the hard top of the table near her thigh, just close enough for his thumb to brush the skin there. She's soft, softer than most woman and a hell of a lot softer than Georgina could ever be. Even the smell she was exuding was drawing him closer, the fresh embers of flowers scenting her skin so delicately his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he sniffed her.

"Well now little flower - how about I teach you a _lesson_ about breaking into other people's houses?"

His hand runs from her knee, roughly skimming her tanned skin toward those tiny shorts. So dangerously short.

"It'll be - _fun_. I promise"

As he brings his face down to hers, mere millimeters from her lips, he feels the sudden cool touch at his neck. Pulling back a little he can see her arm up, her forearm braced and a dark shining smirk across her lips. Her eyes are lit up now, playful, much more dangerous than the shorts she wears.

Trying to pull away, Dominic can feel her other hand at the back of his head; her small hand bunching his tied hair to keep him in place. Licking her tongue over her lips, she looks from his neck to his eyes and immediately he see's them darken. Gone is the light hazel, the friendly brown and in it's place is black. Midnight Black.

"Don't move friend; otherwise this knife may cut straight through your jugular."

Her voice has sweet tones like raspberry but there is steel accompanying it. Steel strong enough to have it's possessor follow through with the threat. Dominic wants to push her away, pin her down and show her how he treats uninvited guests who threaten him in his own home.

Managing to swallow, he feels the blade brush against the stubble near his adams apple, it's sound alerting him to how sharp the knife is. If he'd have to take a guess, he'd say hunting knife, maybe butcher's. The guess is in the way she holds it, the way it is tucked into the back of her forearm, and braced tightly in her grip. She's a woman that knows how to hold a knife properly.

Before he can open his mouth to ask what she wants, she shakes her head and presses the knife closer, its tip nicking the side of his neck. He can feel the warm trickle of blood roll down and he glares insistently at the intruder, waiting for her to speak.

"Just listen-"

She's whispering and its frightening to be in such a situation with the captor stuck between two clear emotions. One of calm and one of complete madness.

"- Georgina is leaving with her sister and August is coming with me."

Dominic growls lowly in his throat, but is silenced again as the blade nicks closer to his ear.

"I'm taking him and you are never going to have anything to do with _either_ of them. I've been watching you Dominic. Watching every move you make, every wrong deal you try to cover up with money that isn't yours, every slut you take home from that rancid bar in Port Angeles."

"Who the hell are you?"

"I am someone who hates people like _you_. I hate how you _pretend_ to be the nice guy when really, it's you, who lurks around high schools and hides in shadows, preying on the misfortunes of others. I hate how you think that everything should be handed to you on a silver platter, when you have not worked a hard day in your life."

Dominic's eyes widen as the blade presses tighter and his skin whitens from the force. His blood pumps wildly under his skin, paling his face and causing his muscles to tense. He wonders if she has the guts to do it. To drag the blade along human flesh and end his life.

Pulling his hair tightly and tipping his head back, the woman is deathly close, snarling in his face as if she were some kind of animal.

"Stay away from my _son_, Hoquim"

Weightlessness over takes him as he is hurled toward the kitchen wall, pots and pans cluttering from shelving as the impact slams the air straight from his lungs. Cupping his neck quickly to check of the damage caused, his hands pull back, only finely covered in blood, specks staining the skin of his palms. Scurrying to his feet, he whips around the kitchen, his breath still gone and his eyes wild.

A pot on the stove continues to boil and slithers of smoke leak from the now overcooked casserole in the oven. The kitchen is still dark, his heart beat still beating madly, but one thing is missing.

Slamming his fist on the counter top Dominic growls.

She gone - and he's all alone - in the big ole house his daddy left him.

...

"I know it's not much but-"

"It's fine" August replies as he dumps his duffel bag on the floor. "Cool posters"

Leah looks from his tall form to the littering of posters gracing the walls. She, like all teenagers, had gone through a spell of rebelling and grunging out in the rock and rock of old. Posters of Kiss, Rolling Stones and even a Jimmi Hendrix stage shot, hang on the green walls just above the modest bed.

"What is this - Seth's old room?" He quirks as he pushes around some of the items on the dresser.

"It was mine"

"Oh"

"Yeah"

Sitting down on the edge of the bed Leah pats the linen next to her and beckons him forward. "It's only for a little while okay? Once I find a place, you can move with me and then even Georgina can visit, alright?" She knows as much as August has nothing in common with his foster mother, he still cares for her well-being.

"Sure" He answers with a shrug of his shoulders, his face showing no absolute emotion that she is able to pick up on. Reaching to his duffel bag he pulls out an I-pod and unravels the white cord, poking one of the ends into his opposing ear.

"Well, I better let you unpack and all that" She smiles as she stands, walking toward the door. With only one duffel bag Leah knows that August doesn't have many things to arrange and it hurts inside her chest thinking about various other items he has missed out on by living away from her.

The low hum of the white light in the room buzzes around them as she watches her son lie back on the bed and brace the pillows. It wasn't much because neither she nor Seth had very much of anything but she hoped that it would be enough for him to stay.

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

His reply comes in the form of a small nod as his fingers swirl the cursor down the playlist to find a different tune. Her lips thin thinking of something else she could say, something that would comfort him, but she's new at having him this close, new at protecting him properly.

Flicking the light off she sighs and reaches to close the door. With the side of her head resting on the door she wraps her arms around her shoulders to sigh silently for the son that has been mixed up in the fight against fate and her.

"Thanks"

It's soft, but still she hears it, as his voice drifts through the small room and falls short at the closed door.

...

Stuffing his hands knuckle deep in his pockets, Jacob kicks at the tiny rocks that catch some of the moons light. First Beach has always looked so different at night, more haunting and much more daunting than when it's light.

In the distance the cliffs send off an illusion of looking at least three fold higher, the jagged rocks beneath looking closer and much more terrifying while uncovered by the low tide. Bluish black light fills the rocks pools that have retained water during the decreasing shore line and if he were to crouch down low, he could have reached out and touched the small reef fish swimming contently in the shallow baths.

The wind is fierce tonight and even with his increased body heat he can feel the chill being trapped in his outdoor jacket. Shell after shell passes by under his feet, swirling him into memories of what this place used to mean to him, of what it all meant.

After he and his father had visited the cemetery, they'd spent the afternoon on the porch talking about the time had passed and catching up on jokes they'd missed. It was nice to feel safe with his father, safe in the relationship that had been straining in the distance since he and Bella moved to the arid desert heartland of Phoenix. He can see now how the move had been least fair to him, how he'd practically given up everything for a girl that was going to marry one of his people's enemies. But risking the chance at losing everything, Jacob knew that he had to go with her. Had he not been her love, he was her best friend, something which held weight to him in a world full of lies, deceit and betrayal.

He guesses that the reason he and Leah are so strained at the moment is because they were supposed to be friends but he'd been anything but. It had been selfish for him to leave, selfish to leave not only his family and friends behind while he dropped his whole existence to be what Bella needed. With a shake of the head he sighs, knowing that before he leaves he is going to try and repair the friendship they once shared, that he has to at least try.

Leah was just as important to him as any other person in the pack and while he can see the error of his ways, he has to give her more than words to prove it. It wouldn't be a problem getting another week off from the garage he was employed at. Terry, his boss, at been convincing him for the past six months to take a well deserved holiday after the last couple of years of good, strong, consistent work. Terry was a fair man, and Jacob appreciated the trust the owner had given him and the care he gave to all staff members.

A soft whimper has him freezing in his spot, his hands sinking deeper inside his jacket. Glancing up Jacob realises how far he's walked, almost reaching the cliffs now.

His eye catches her lithe form as she crouches, a blood red shawl wrapped around her shoulders to cover her bare body. Her hair flocks in the wind as she reaches down toward a rock pool with a small cup in her hand. It's mesmerizing and he can't find the will to shut his eyes, not even for a second. He should look away but a pull has him sedated and soaking up every inch of her body. She's nothing like Bella, nothing at all. While Bella and her both share a slim physique, Leah is tall, her frame slim lined like the make of a beautiful car. Her hips are more defined, the small of her back arching inwards where Bella's fell flat, her shoulders broad, stronger than that of his current partner.

He's always known Leah as beautiful, but looking over at her he doesn't just see the beauty in her looks. He see's the beauty of her vulnerability. He see's how much she needs someone, how much she needs strength, love, friendship. He see's it in the way her hand shakes slightly, the way she trembles, the way she breathes. She needs him.

Watching as the shawl pools at her waist, she picks up the small cup and holds it to her shoulder, gently pouring the cold salted water over her skin. This is when he finally sees the scars for what they are. Her scars run patterns Jacob swears he's never seen before or even dreamed. They run like tracks, like veins under her skin, almost appearing to glow from the blue light cast down on the beach.

Again she collects water and casts it over her shoulder, this time the opposite side. He doesn't know why she can't hear him or feel him for that matter and his guilt makes him want to call out to her just so she'd cover herself to inadvertently stop his eyes from watching her.

As she watches the water stream down her back from her shoulder, she looks up suddenly, as if she's _just_ scented him. Her eyes narrow as she drops the cup and pulls the shawl tight, covering herself.

Jacob doesn't allow her to go anywhere, calling out to her in an Alpha command immediately.

"Stop-"

Her long panicking legs don't freeze completely, but she tumbles in her attempts. Even with her being the Alpha female, his word still has some tiny miniscule of weight against her and it catches her off guard, giving him enough time to catch up with her.

Instead of speaking he helps her up and tightens her shawl, silently telling her he is not here to take advantage of her in her current state. Pressing his palm into her shoulder, he spins her slowly, allowing his other hand to gather her hair and drape it at the front of her shoulder. He needs to see them up close, see what has happened to her, see what he's caused.

It feels intimate. Like tasting a lover for the first time, like the first kiss, like feeling your first orgasm. It's exciting, it's dangerous and somewhere deep down inside you want to cry because you're not entirely sure of what your doing and if your even doing it properly.

He can feel her whimper, can hear her heavy breaths as they catch in pain. Tugging the shawl down Jacob holds her waist with one hand and stands so she can still hear him.

"Don't run for me. Let me see them"

His voice is deep, enthralling and he knows that she understands his intentions somehow. Slowly the shawl slackens in her hands and with shaky hands it's time for him to return as the Alpha. Starting from her shoulders, his fingers run down, touching and caressing the deep confliction of pain within the Alpha female. He makes sure to touch them all, cup his palms, run his thumb, brush and soothe them.

"Heal" He whispers in a low voice, watching as goose bumps raise on her skin. Three more times he whispers the same word, touching her skin, touching something deeper between them. He wishes that the word will heal her scars, her pain, their friendship; but he knows that like most things in this life, wishing can be the hardest of all let downs.

Once his fingers reach the curve of her backside he stops to pull away gently. He is calm; and the feeling he radiates soaks also into her pores. It's all around them the calm, the stillness, even the waves that had been bashing against the shore seem to soften.

"I hate you" She whispers softly as she pulls the shawl back over her body, making sure to keep her head down.

"I know you do Lee" He mumbles as he reaches to brush some matted sand from her elbow. "But I'm not going to give up"

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into Black"

"I do know, Leah. That's the problem"

* * *

><p>AN - In a review '<span>Rakikel<span>' points out a really good point - That a character with such a tragic life, would most probably have a tragic end too. I thought that was really cool, mainly because it's so true. How can _any_ ending I give Leah - be completely happy? Especially when our own lives don't mirror _complete _happiness?

Now, I also know that people want Jacob and Leah to just throw themselves into each others arms and be all googly eyed and lovey dovey, with the whole she-bang of 'I love you honey, baby, sugar tits'. As much as I want a newborn to wander through and rip Bella to shreds and have a mourning Edward kill himself, I think that character development in this story needs to be taken at a slower pace. While I enjoy lemons and WILF fuck-fests, just as much as the next gal, I really want to show different sides of love and relationships, because let's face it - we don't all sleep with people we are in love with and we sure as shit don't just break up with someone because something better *cough* Leah *cough* comes along, yells at us, and shows us their tits (figuratively speaking of course).

Don't get me wrong - I love airy fluffy Blackwater, filled with mini Alpha's wearing baby booties, but seriously? 0_o? Isn't there already enough of that? I mean - as much as I hate to see Jacob suck up Bella's ass, I think it would be highly unlikely that he would just wake up one day, say 'Oh shit, I'm in love with Leah' and then run to her house for some lemon-ade? Yeah, probably not.

Right. Rant over. Totally PMSing. Ohh and don't forget to check out the banner on my profile for this fic. My love 'MyNoAngel' whipped it up for me with her super sugary fingers made of win and spun me a nice little web of yumminess. Oh yeah. You're jealous. No you can't have it. What? You saved it? It's your desktop picture? How sweet!

P.S - Has anyone been to South Dakota? If so, I need info. Yes, I could Google it but argh... PSM. My sources tell me that it doesn't exist *cough* Kei *cough* but I am still sceptical even though the argument was well drafted and very convincing. But since she is also a HP fan, I am not sure if I can trust a woman who dabbles in the realm of magic. However, if you send me pictures of Mr Longbottom all grown up, perhaps it will strengthen your argument and the case will be closed - depending on the picture of course.

Now I need chocolate, especially because my ass can't get any bigger than it feels today :(


	7. Chapter 7

**I do not own Twilight**

* * *

><p>…<p>

Entangled

[ VII ]

…

"Hey" August nods as he shuffles into the small kitchen.

The smell of something cooking on the stove had pulled him from a dreamless sleep, though he is surprised to see its Seth at the old appliance instead of Leah. Running his eyes over the table he sees the syrup and chocolate bits, ready for the pancakes that the older wolf flips in the pan. He flips it with ease, as if he's been doing it for years, most probably considering the sweet tooth each of the wolves have. August himself prefers something with substance, something stocky; preferably meat based, but welcomes the sweetness as a nice change.

"Oh - hey kid" Seth replies, only offering a tight smile, shaggy hair hanging over his eyes for a minute before he turns back to the stove.

August can see that his Beta's face is wet, and even with the smell of the sugary products on the floral table cloth, the scent of salt lingers.

"You okay?" August offers timidly not sure if he should stay or keep his mouth shut and just go back to the bed he'd slept in. While it was small it was a far cry better than the drabby mattress on the floor he'd been sleeping on which had been just another peril of not complying with Dominic's curfew.

"Don't worry about it. Just a little tender this morning" Seth mumbles, gesturing the spatula toward his thigh though keeping his back toward the young wolf.

"Right" August mutters, shaking out his hair and sitting down at the table.

He wants to say more; offer his condolences, ask if there was anything he could do. But he doesn't. Seth's pride he exerts around the pack, is on the line, and being just the two of them, the young wolf knows it is no different.

"Leah still asleep? She wanted to cut my hair today"

"Ah-"

August can see the tension in Seth's shoulders for a split second before he rolls them out and flips the next stack of pancake batter.

"She's already up. She'll be back - soon"

A pregnant silence fills the air and immediately August knows his beta is lying to him, his interest peaking knowing that wherever his Alpha female is and whatever she is doing, is being kept hush hush.

"Any plans today other than a cut?"

"I was thinking of going down to the pool hall with Lionel and Chris."

August shrugs, not knowing if Seth is actually interested in what he is doing or if he is just trying to rid the room of the awkwardness.

"Okay" Seth nods a silent permission as he sets a plate down on the table for him. "Be careful"

"Always am. You eating?"

"Nah, you go ahead. I had something earlier"

Another lie but August dismisses it and tucks into the meal. It's been so long since he remembers someone cooking him a hot breakfast, Georgina usually too tired or too busy trying to hide another black eye from Dominic's fist. Weekends had always been the worst, the older man coming home from another binge session, only to point out everything both he and Georgina were doing wrong in their lives.

More silence engulfs the small kitchen as Seth mutters a quick 'catch you later' and heads out toward the forest to run his share of patrol.

August breathes out a sigh of contentment over his now finished meal and dumps the plate in the sink and begins packing away the condiments back into the cupboards. The cupboards are only slightly less bare than his previous home and it seems as though a trip to the store is on the agenda.

While he is not a masterful cook, he has more than enough experience to whip up a reasonable meal after being left to his own devices more often than not. He suspects that maybe Leah and Seth might enjoy having a night off from cooking and considering they had taken him in, it was the least he could give back.

Picking up the dishcloth he wipes the table down of any crumbs and re adjusts the plastic print table cloth to its original setting.

...

'_Anything_?' Seth quips as he runs toward the exchange point, his muzzle pressing to the ground every now and then. The ground is still damp mid-morning and he feels the earth shift under his powerful paws.

His thigh stretches out against his strides and he contemplates why in the wolf form he does not feel the pain as he does when he is human. There is discomfort, though nothing more than a slight pinch, a far cry from the torturous agony he had been suffering earlier that morning.

'_We got a couple of weird smells'_

Nelson, one of the pups answers as he bounds toward the clearing to meet his Beta who will be taking over shifts. Nelson still feels the excitement they all once use to feel in the beginning, though with time, even Seth's enthusiasm eventually died down. It had just become a never ending life of routine.

_'I tried to track it, but nothing eventuated._' Paul bites out, segments of wanting to get home already filling his mind.

_'Where?'_

_'East of the quarry, down near old Hope's property. Figured it might just be a cross contamination from the beasts he keeps on the site.'_

_'What did it smell like?'_ Seth asks Paul, Nelson too interested in glancing at a squirrel who seems to be watching the wolf with wide eyes, his acorn tucked tightly under his little brown arms as if the cub wanted them for himself.

_'Blood, dead animal and cow shit'_

Rolling his eyes Seth slows as he reaches the clearing, the large grey wolf and the smaller brindle coloured pup bouncing playfully behind him.

_'Why did you follow it then?'_

_'Bright eyes here said he smelt leech.'_

Paul growls in frustration, showing Seth the moment Nelson had picked up on the strange scent and bounded off without telling him where he was going. Letting the cubs patrol with Paul was one thing, but what he didn't like was them running off into situations he knew they couldn't handle. Even though the asshole inside of him wanted to let them learn their lesson, Paul would never let one of the pups be intentionality harmed.

Nelson whimpers and drops down on to the grass, knowing that Paul is still pissed off that he'd run after the scent which had turned out to be coming from one of the meat barns that had been cleaned out with bleach.

_'Get up idiot'_ Paul grumbles, nudging the brindle wolf with his snout, accepting the puppy eyes as an apology.

_'Alright guys, go get some rest. I got this'_

_'You running solo?'_ The pup asks, circling Seth happily, ready to offer his services once again, knowing that his mother doesn't need him to mow the lawn until the afternoon.

Paul hesitates, glancing over Seth's injured leg before turning back to his Beta._ 'You sure about running by yourself? Why don't you call up one of the-'_

_'Home - it's where _you_ should be. I'll howl if I need assistance'_

The way Seth snarls has Paul lowering his snout in submission while Nelson yelps and backs away from the older, higher ranked wolf. Seth can feel the silent question Paul has asked, mounting on his ability because of the injury.

If anything, Seth was stronger now, more capable; ready to fight back with a force his former innocent and younger self lacked.

_'No need to be an ass'_ The large grey wolf mutters as he butts his head into the side of the pup and pushes him in the direction of his mother's property.

_'Just looking out man'_

'_Right_' Seth huffs, shaking out his fur and jogging in the opposite direction toward the point he'd picked as the start of his route. _'Just looking out'_

...

"So what? Sandy Jenkins just flat out said no?" Lionel chuckles humorously at Chris's admission, as he dusts the end of his pool cue with the blue chalk.

Augusts sits on a stool, his back propped against the wall only half listening to the two bickering near him. The scent of the pool hall distracts him somewhat as the smell of smoke makes his nose crinkle. He's always been a sentinel of some sort; a watcher who keeps guard, looks over the rest.

"Bro, it's like she's playing hard to get or something" Chris shrugs, ignoring Lionel's taunts and shooting the white ball against the top right hand corner to sink the purple high numbered ball.

"Maybe she's playing 'never gonna get'?"

"She likes me man I know it. It's this feeling deep down in my bones" Chris replies, lining up another shot, this time successfully sinking the orange in the left hand pocket. Standing up he grabs the blue cue tip and rubs it over the end of the stick, before lining up again. "She's going to be my girl before summer's up"

August blocks out his two pack mates in front of him as through the door steps Jacob Black and his pale face girl. Bella. He'd had the displeasure of hearing and seeing through the pack mind just how whipped the supposed Alpha male was for the girl.

Looking over her August can't find anything in particular that stands out as being amazing. Sure she had a fit body, that petite heart shaped face and pouty lips, but adding it all up in his mind, it didn't make her the 'be all and end all' of the teenage population of Washington. The way he'd seen people act, made him believe they thought she was.

Standing and walking over to the table August leans his palms against the wood, watching as Black pays for a couple of coins for the slot operated tables and tags some cues off the back wall. He can tell Jacob is a regular by the way he sets up the colour formation of the triangle, but can also see that the Swan girl is nervous or just plain unsure of herself. She holds the cue likes it's going to hit the ball itself and with the amount of lip biting the girl has going on, he is amazed that she even has a bottom one left.

"Look at this asshole. Strutting around like he belongs here" August growls, Lionel and Chris stopping to glance at what has their friend so worked up. August is shaking, his fingers piecing and cracking the wood of the pool table under his grip.

"Calm down man" Chris says first, walking towards his friend to back him away from damaging the goods. None of them were well off, and seeing as they didn't have money to replace a pool table, none of them wanted to get kicked out of the pool hall permanently.

"Yeah man" Lionel pipes up as he leans to the side and props his stick against the ground. "Just let bygones be bygones and all that shit. Forget that ass"

"Forget it?" August hisses, drawing unwanted attention. "He is _no_ Alpha"

"Way I see it is - Jacob was right to leave." Lionel replies as he leans down to take the next shot.

"What the fuck do you mean?"

August spits with malice, the vein in his neck pumping blood much too fast around his body. He feels dizzy, light headed even and it takes all his strength not to leap across the pool table a shake his pack brother and friend for an explanation.

"Who the hell wants to be shacked up with Clearwater? I mean come on' man - the woman is half a heartbeat away from a fucking monster with all those scars"

"Oh shit"

Three things happen so quickly no one is sure who is moving and who is attacking who.

August's boots leave indentations in the green material of the pool table surface. Lionel is on the floor clutching his face and Chris is holding a heavily breathing pack brother back from murdering the other in cold blood.

"You son of a bitch. You fucking hit me" Lionel all but cries out, his hand trying to catch the blood that is running down his eye and cheek, the heavy set of the pool cue still feeling as though it is blasted against the side of his face and that it has left an imprint their as memory.

"Don't you _ever_ talk about her like that again!"

"Why the fuck not?" Lionel snaps as he gets to his feet shakily, still holding his face as blood oozes between his fingers. "She your mother now cause she took you in?"

August growls and tries to lunge toward his friend again before a huge weight has him wrapped up by his neck, a forearm pressing harshly into his neck to pull him back. His breath is heavy and it feels as though his wolf is going to self-destruct with the comments made against his Alpha female.

"Calm down" The voice rumbles, August's knees locking together almost immediately. There is a power in the voice, a power he hasn't heard before and it takes all his will power to override the command.

"Get off me. I'm going to kill this asshole"

"You got your loyalties twisted man. I'm you pack brother not your enemy. I deserve your loyalty more than that _whore_"

Collecting blood from his nose, Lionel smears it across the front of his shirt, his fingers warm with fresh wolf blood covering them.

"I pity you man. Just because your mother is off showing her tits to strangers and dancing around a pole for money, doesn't mean every woman is doing the same" August can't help but call his friend out on the accusation.

"Tell me then August, where is your precious Leah? Out fucking that leech again?"

Lionel's ears prick with heat, his anger at the remark about his mother shining through. He'd told August about that in confidence, even though the whole reservation knew what Elsie Grant did for employment he did not want it advertised in the local pool hall. His mother wasn't ashamed by any means, the money she'd made countless times keeping a roof over her boy's heads and food in their bellies.

But that didn't mean Lionel liked it.

"How dare you"

Shiver's move up and down August's spine, tapping and electrifying each nerve ending, the tips of his fingers numb, ready for the phase. He wanted to tell his friend to shut his mouth, to stop stirring the over protective wolf inside him but as usual Lionel kept arguing, insisting having his point made.

"How dare I? How fucking dare _she_! She's in bed with the enemy man, she's fucking him-" Lionel roars as he snatches his jacket from a nearby stool, dried blood stuck to his face as the cut slowly begins to heal. "- and if you're too blind to see it, it's _you_ who I feel sorry for"

Pushing his way through the crowd that has gathered, Lionel slams the entry doors to the pool hall as he leaves, leaving behind a colourful note of cursive wording.  
>Realising that he is still being held, August shrugs off his detainer and spins around to face the person. Jacob Black's frown looks down on him slightly, disappointment and anger present on his face. Jacob is the one person August detests more than anything, and knowing that the Alpha male had held him back makes him burst with anger.<p>

"Don't _ever_ touch me"

"I'm just being careful kid. You could have hurt people here - innocent people"

The statement, while true, is coming from a complete hypocrite. Jacob Black doesn't realise how many people he has hurt in his lifetime, Leah and Billy being only a couple of them. August can feel his blood pressure rise, the wolf inside him gnawing just below his skin. "Save it for someone who cares Black"

Collecting his hoodie from the table, August stalks away, glaring at the humans around him as he moves. It doesn't take long to exit the pool hall and he is glad that the cold afternoon breeze is already calming his heated demeanour.

"Hey Aug - wait up man" Chris calls out from the doors of the pool hall as he tries to keep up with his friend.

"Not now Chris"

Chris shrinks back as he watches August stomp along the poorly paved footpath until his friend disappears out of his line of sight. Glancing around he notices that Lionel's car is gone and slinks his hand into his pocket to pull out his cell.

"Dad - can you come and pick me up? Yeah. Nah. My ride kind of left me behind"

...

The car ride back to Charlie's house is filled with a silent pause. Bella feels as though already in the few days they have been back, her and Jacob's relationship has already changed, or rather, has been forced to change.

She can feel the distance between them, as if he is unknowingly pulling away from her, pulling back toward his old ways, his old friends, his pack.

"Maybe we can go out tonight?" She asks in a gentle voice, her hand sliding over the top of his shoulder towards his neck. She can see the tension in his muscles and the way he flinches under her touch. "Just the two of us?"

She can see the way Jacob stares at the road in front of him, the way he almost shrugs off the hand that was searching to be wrapped in all that dark silky hair.

"I've actually got a thing with the boys tonight" He replies with a shrug, her hand finally falling from his shoulder and wrapping itself back in her lap. The tears build in the corner of her eyes as he continues to drive.

"Oh" She whispers, feeling shaken and wanting nothing more than to curl up in her bed and fade away.

"But I can cancel if you want?" He asks, finally sparing her a glance.

She can feel him watching her as she shakes her head, allowing him to continue on with his already pre-arranged plans. After all, this was going to be the last time she'd ever visit Forks.

Renee and Phil where moving to Miami, Phil having scored a minor assistant coaching position. After he'd given up the game, he'd landed himself in coaching and found his talent actually lay in teaching the sport rather than playing it. With her mother moving to Miami, Bella had no doubt that she and Jacob would sell up in Arizona and go along.

"It's fine" She manages to mumble, pulling at the old carpeting of the door and toying with the foam edging that had burst from it. "I guess I can just go with Charlie somewhere"

"Thanks" Jacob smiles brightly, leaning over to pull her head to his lips and place a simple kiss on her temple. "You're the best"

Pulling her legs up Bella folds them under her and watches the dizzying world pass by. The different shades of green mingle with the rays of light so perfectly she tells herself how heart breakingly beautiful it really is, how no one should ever want to leave this place.

Each tree has had time to grow, mature and to thrive in its entire wilderness and yet she feels as though its beauty merely leaves her empty. Not full as it once had. Not full of anything she recognises anymore. With Edward she used to see the beauty in the forest, the beauty in the small things, small things she tried not to take for granted.

But it seems everything around her is beautiful, while she simply remains empty.

...

As Jacob parks the truck and hops out, he can see Seth making his way toward the vehicle. His cargos cling to his hips and his hands still work to get the buttons together, post phase. The wind whips at the younger man's hair, splaying it across his face and neck, its length almost shaggy and unkempt, reminding Jacob of when they were younger and went for months without cutting it back.

"Seth" He nods out of respect, not wanting to start another argument so soon.

"What are you doing here Black?" Seth growls as he latches the button on and pulls at the zip. His chest is sweaty, dirt and small leaves partially sticking to his heated skin.

"You've got problems. Big problems"

"Tell me something I don't know" Seth snaps back, rolling his eyes and scoffing at the man he use to idolise.

"No, I'm talking within your pack. I had to pull Leah's kid off one of his pack mates before he beat the other kid into the ground"

Jacob can see the way Seth's eyes widen and then narrow in contemplation of the information offered. His strewn arms cross over his wide chest as he cocks his head to the side.

"Who told you?" Seth asks his throat popping as he swallows a large lump.

"It doesn't matter. I won't say anything. What you should really be thinking about is how you are going to resolve the issues around it"

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Look - August feels deeply for Leah and I think he can feel the bond between them. It's only a matter of time before the kid works it out - being a hybrid and all" Jacob tries not to exude cockiness as he leans against the tray of his truck and mimics Seth's pose. It's already been established that August far out grows anyone and Jacob knows that his mental capacity is far beyond at three year old.

"What happened?" Seth finally gives in, wanting to hear about the incident.

Jacob takes a deep breath before going through the motions of what happened at the pool hall. He tells an ever angering Seth about the word's the kid's friend had used and the suspicion that Leah was in fact coercing with their enemy.

"So - _is_ she sleeping with him?" Jacob asks, the corners of his eyes crinkling in disgust.

Running a hand through his hair, Seth fists the locks before dropping his arm to his side in defeat. "I don't know Jacob. Point is - I don't need to know. Leah is Alpha, she does what she wants, and she's a woman not a fragile girl. I'm not even sure I want to know what goes on it that house"

Nodding slowly Jacob contemplates the options in front of them. "I think I can help you. All of you"

The admission shocks Seth, Jacob can clearly see it. He himself doesn't see why it is such a shock to everyone that he actually wants to help out the pack, that he wants to make amends for the travesty he has caused.

"How?" Seth demands tightening his fists until his nails are biting into the flesh of his palms.

"I saw _her_ - Leah, at the beach. She was using the rock pools to try and heal her scars" Seth nods at Jacob's words, having witnesses it once before.

"It got me thinking Seth, there is a story in the old books, the legends, about the rock pools healing ability and the Chief's touch. When my mom had her accident, my father tried to bring her back to him using the same remedy as in the story"

Seth's eyes narrow causing Jacob to hold his palms up in a non-threatening manner.

"I swear it's not what you are thinking. Now - the legend in the book my father has says that for any immortal scars to be healed, moon lit water must be captured in the rock pools and poured over the wound. With the help of a smoking hut, the Chief then cleanses all of the dead tissue and by touch, renews its life. It would only need a single night in the hut."

"If it didn't work for you mother-" Seth gulps, suddenly feeling guilty for speaking about Sarah Black in such a context. She'd been good to his parents, Billy as well, and hates to speak ill of the dead. "-how do you expect it to work for Leah?"

"My mother – her injuries were internal. My father thought that maybe if it worked for the outside, that it would work for her internal organs as well. As you know – my mother didn't make it to sunrise."

Shuffling on his feet, Seth rubs his collar bone remembering the tale as told by his father once before and of what Billy Black had tried to do for his wife. As a boy he hadn't been one for believing too deeply in the legends, however now, judging from all he has been through in his life, he understands that if the story of the transformation from man to wolf were true, this may also be so. There was one flaw in the plan though.

"You are not the Chief of this tribe Jacob."

Nodding, Jacob replies knowingly "The Chief's blood runs through me Seth. Any magic still present on this land will recognised it also. If I thought Billy could spend a whole night in a heated tent I would ask him to do so, but I know how his health is. I know my father is getting older and one day he will pass on and be with my mother, but I don't want to be willing him closer to his due date"

"I don't really see how this is going to help" Seth grumbled, not particularly set on having Jacob and his sister locked in a tent together.

"If Leah is healed she won't need Edward anymore. Whatever they have between them will be severed and he will be punished should he re-cross the border whilst the treaty is in place. Then I'll train the cubs _and_ August to her satisfaction before officially giving her the Alpha title once and for all."

"What will you do after that?"

"I'll leave. I won't come back. Just like Leah wants" Jacob whispers, his voice hoarse and a timid smile on his lips. "She can have the packs Seth. She can have it all. I'm going to bow out and let her win"

Seth thinks about what this will mean for the pack, thinks about the pros and cons they will gain by allowing this to happen. "I can't promise you a 'yes' but I can ask" He finally replies after staring out into the forest for a moment, sure he'd heard the snapping of twigs in the distance.

"I just - I want to _try_ and make amends Seth. I know it was _our_ fault Leah suffered. That you all suffered. I just want to make it right. Make it easier somehow. I'm not asking for her forgiveness or even yours, but I _am_ asking for a chance."

...

Pushing up the material of her top, Edward's fingers skim across her skin, dragging softly before flipping over his palm and scratching against the midsection that held their son. "I love when you wear blue" Edward grins from between her legs as he hooks his fingers in the edge of her panties. He lets himself toy with the material to tease her before dragging it down her long legs and off her feet.

"You love any colour-" Leah gasps, feeling his cold lips kiss her apex, his smooth long fingers grasping her ass to pull her forward and closer to his hungry mouth.

"I do" He grins, running his cheek against her leg and kissing the inside of her thigh. "But I especially love blue"

Leah's back arches as she feels him slide his fingers inside her, working slowly, softly, painfully towards his goal. His goal is to ease her, release her from her own body and take her mind off of the world around them. She knows that in retrospect the feeling of being needed means a lot to him. And she knows that it is all Edward has ever wanted. To be loved, needed, wanted, respected.

"Fuck" She cries out, biting down on her bottom lip and fisting the white sheets beneath them.

She can feel her body trembling, her legs bracing as her heels dig into the mattress. He is working her, his lips feeling as though they reach every inch of her skin, every nerve ending, every drop of moisture.

With a shaky squeal Leah can feel her spine un-coil and her body become boneless, the sensations of pleasure skyrocketing her into the realms of the stars and shapes in the night's sky.

Allowing her to come down from her high, Edward kisses her thighs again as he rubs his fingers against the sheet. Crawling slowly up her body he flops down to the side of her and pulls her close.

Tonight would not be about them together but about her on her own. He wants to make sure she has the starring role tonight and would do anything in his power to make it so.

"I wish you were mine Leah" Edward murmurs into her ear, kissing her shoulder gently as he pulls the blanket across her waist. "I wish I were human and I could give you the life you deserve"

Brushing the sweat matted hair from her cheek he can't help but chuckle at the way she is breathing, panting for air. "You liked it" He states, as his hands come to their usual resting place on her back only to frown.

"Turn Leah. Turn around" He says, a little bit of urgency lacing his tone.

"Why? What's wrong?" Leah jerks up, moving her hair to the side and attempts to look over her shoulder. She can see the way his eyes change, the sparkle of an almost wetness lacing the outer rims. She wants to whimper, become weak in his arms but first she wants to know what has him sitting up and gracing his face with such a strange emotion.

"Oh my" Edward whispers as he runs his index finger down her back, finding clear patches of skin where there had once been only scars.

* * *

><p>AN - Just a quick shout out to everyone who has reviewed, faved and alerted so far - you guys are just so freaking awesome. Not to mention you get my brain jelly working for the possible endings this story could have. You are all too super sweet.<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

**I do not own Twilight**

* * *

><p>…<p>

Entangled

[ VIII ]

…

"Boss - I'm heading out for coffee, you want a cup?"

"Sure" Charlie replies nodding to the youngest and most enthusiastic officer Forks police station has. Trent Barrett had graduated Police Training Academy a mere three months ago and had been stationed with the department as his first assignment. Considering the well below average scores Trent seemed to pull, his passion and drive for the position made him a sure fire thing.

"White, three sugars?" Trent asks, making Charlie's breath hitch.

The memory of Sue standing by the stove asking him the same question every morning floods his mind. Her long black hair cascading down her back, the narrowness of her waist, the full exotic shape of her hips all sear a painful flood of emotion that runs straight through the deep hole in his heart.

He much prefers the image he has painted in his mind of her from the beginning of their relationship; rather than the last. Their last months together had drawn heavily on his heart, reached places only his psyche knew were now damaged, shook him further than his bones reached. Even with the walls of tension, moments and words full of stress and distress, he didn't mind spending those days taking care of her. Sitting quietly to watch her sleep, lying with her silently as the painful medication tore through her body - just - being the man she could count on, that would be there when she woke and when she closed her eyes finally.

"Actually-" Charlie begins as he clears the lump that has settled in his throat. "Get me something different, something ah - new age"

Trent cocks an eye brow at the chief's statement knowing that the entire time he has been under Charlie's command, that he'd never changed his coffee order - not ever.

"Uh sure, Ch-chief" With a nod Trent disappears back around the corner of the wall, letting the door close softly, metal clicking into place behind him.

Placing the paperwork he had been sorting down, Charlie closes his eyes and takes a deep breath unknowingly sending his mind back into the memories in which he was trying so desperately to quell. He knew that sooner or later the memories would catch him, no matter how much time he spent with Billy fishing or with Bella cooking.

_Walking into the house he immediately knows something is wrong. Soft sobbing can be heard through the deafening sound the silence offers._

_Unhooking his belt and placing his holster on to the counter top Charlie takes each stair carefully, listening out for signs of where the muffled cries are coming from. Toeing open the bathroom door with his boot he is meet with her small body hovering over the toilet, her hands gripping it tightly as she empties her stomach for the third time in as many days._

_Moving to the basin he dampens a dry hand towel and moves to sit behind her until she finishes. Once he knows she can heave no more he pulls her upper arm back, allowing her whole body to lean back into his chest._

_Her eyes are closed and sweat clamped hair sticks to her face as she tries to breathe evenly. Her fingers tense against his panted thighs as he brings the cool damp cloth towards her face, and with outward motions he begins to clean off what he can._

_"You should leave me you know" Sue speaks hoarsely, allowing her eyes to open as the cloth grazes against her cheek softly, his intentions not to hurt her shinning through the tenderness in which he wipes._

_"Nonsense" Charlie offers back as he kisses her temple, letting the cloth run the length of her neck. "I wouldn't be any other place but here"_

_"You're a glutton for punishment Swan" She replies, smiling lovingly up at him, her eyes conveying the emotionally stability of the colour spectrum behind the deep pools of brown._

_"I know" He whispers out as he hugs her. An albeit silent attempt to secure her to him so she would never slip away. "Sometimes it's not about the ending - but the journey"_

_Sue nods at his words feeling the heavy onset of concrete her eyelids seem to be fighting against. With him rocking them both gently a small buzz of electricity surrounds them._

_Charlie can feel the charge in the air but he says nothing. Instead he rocks her to his chest, happy and content, with just having her this much longer._

A knock at the door startles Charlie and a quick wipe at the corners of his eyes and the straightening of his jacket has him ready again to be greeted.

"It's open" He bellows out, attempting to clear his ever tightening throat.

"Hey dad - um - your coffee?" Bella asks as she balances her cup and a folder in one hand, while holding her nap sack at her elbow and Charlie's coffee in the other.

"Jeez Bells- " Charlie mumbles as he steps from behind the desk and retrieves the Styrofoam cup carefully from her hands, as well as the bag. "What's all this stuff?"

"Urgg" Bella huffs out as she places her cup down, without protection, on his cherry wood desk. "Just course work"

"You're going back to College?" Charlie asks, knowing that Bella had withdrawn all her applications from college soon after the 'Cullen Incident', as he liked to title it.

"Oh – no - just some correspondence education things. Not really the bright lights and whistles of college" She laughs humorously before falling flat in tone to bite against her bottom lip, an action well known to Charlie.

"So what type have studies have you taken to?" He asked as he sits on the corner of his desk and watches her actions. Habits from his career as an officer slowly bleed into the conversation, making it look to some like an interrogation rather than a conversation.

"It's nothing dad, just some writing things. You wouldn't be interested." She replies nervously as she shakes her head, a slow pinkened blush creeping up her neck.

"Wow Bella. Like an author?" Letting out a whistle Charlie chuckles. "That's a hard one. Sorry I'm not really much use though. Literature and all that funny stuff never sat well with me, just didn't have much of a talent for words, you know"

"I know"

Charlie notices Bella running her fingertips along another folder. It's red and frayed at the edges and he wonders what else she has brought to him. "But I'm sure you'll do fine. You are my kid after all"

"Thanks Dad"

"So-" Charlie asks as he re-adjusts his gun holster so it's not digging into his thigh. "I'm guessing you came in for a reason? I don't think I remember the last time you were in here." He motions, pointing to the area around them.

"When Riley Biers went missing" She mumbles under her breath. Charlie catches the words but lets them slide. Edward Cullen had also been at the station that day. The same Edward Cullen who she'd refused to talk about and the same one he swears he'd caught sight of the other day.

"Bella?"

Biting the corner of her lip Bella looks up at him and hands over the red book.

"What's this?" Charlie questions, as he flips the book over in his palms noticing it has neither a blurb nor title.

"Open it" She whispers, her hands shaking as she reaches for her cup. Bella takes a sip of the sweetened coffee, watching as he opens the hard cover and begins looking through the book.

Charlie's eyes skim the pages and they widen almost immediately. Names and descriptions litter the entire contents of the book, _all_ familiar to him, all people from the reservation and Forks.

"What is this - this _madness_?" He asks, flipping faster through the book, lifting photos, articles and even old pages from different books off the pages. The photos consist of Jacob, some of the reservation boys, Billy included, while the torn sections of page clippings are written in Quileute, the language Sue had used on a frequent basis when she was upset with Leah or Seth.

"This is going to be my first piece. As a writer." She insists as she begins pointing out sections marred with her own handwriting.

...

"Hello?" Leah questions into the cell phone, as she juggles bags of groceries between her arms.

"Big problems boss" Nelson half yells into the phone, sounds of a car revving in the background making it hard to distinguish between the two.

"What? Nelson - what the hell is that sound?" Leah growls into the speaker, as she jerks her sensitive ear from the phone.

"Cut it boys!" She hears him holler into the distance, before only muffled sounds are heard. "Sorry" He grimaces. "Paul and Jared are working on their bikes, and they have to have them ready for the dirt race tomorrow"

Leah breathes out a tired breath, already bored at the information the pup is relaying. "Look Nelson - I know you're excited about the whole wolf thing but you really don't have to call me every-"

"Oh. Well - sorry" He replies sheepishly and slightly embarrassed, knowing that he had on more than one occasion contacted Leah about the status of his patrols followed by a full detailed report once he was off duty.

"I just wanted to let you know that August stole a whole bunch of liquor from Paul's cabinet. Paul didn't want to tell you because - well - Rachel kinda told him not to leave the cabinet unlocked. But you shouldn't blame Paul, because I remember once when I was a kid, my uncle John had this huge wooden safe, full of all kinds of crazy-"

"Focus Nelson-" Leah snaps as she unlocked the car and shoves the grocery bags onto the opposite seat, dismissing the now scattered groceries. "Where is August now?"

"Sorry Alpha - He just mumbled something about being back later"

"Okay- alright" Leah exhales, breathing deeply back in as she starts the truck and heads back toward LaPush. "Nelson - find Seth. Tell him that he needs to find August. No one else can know, do you understand?"

"Of course Leah" Nelson replies happily, glad he is part of this weird secret.

"Good. Go"

Ending the call Leah plants her foot firmly down on the accelerator, the maternal instincts inside her gut flaring to full bloom. Horns honk, tyres screech and dirt sprays as she navigates the car straight through several sets of red lights but she doesn't care.

Soon the scenery of buildings fade away and are replaced with the greenery of trees and the deep set forest which will soon mark to beginning of autumn. The wind whips her hair backward, creating a cape like affect, as she weaves down the beaten track. Soon enough she feels the tinge of electricity on her fingertips followed by a blur of sandy brown flying just as fast through the green and yellow backdrop, striving to keep par with the car.

Glancing out through the trees, she catches the eye of the giant wolf and nods, conveying her silent message. Within seconds the wolf peels away, disappearing further into the trees to find her son.

...

Charlotte laughs wholeheartedly as Embry pulls her down into his lap and nuzzles the back of her neck.

"Stay"

Jacob notices the exchange and feels a twinge of jealously. Charlotte and Embry seem happy, genuinely happy and it burns deeper than he allows his face to expel. Not in this life time or the next would Bella ever be comfortable with displayed affection besides sitting together and maybe the gesture of holding hands. His gut swirls thinking about the times he'd gone to kiss her while at her mother's house, or out in public. Bella would either turn away or allow a cheek peck at best. He's not sure if that's because she is just shy or if somewhere deep done she doesn't want other people knowing about them. It's a strange line of thought and Jacob is thankful for Charlotte's loud snorting laughter which breaks him from his self destructive thoughts.

"Stop it." She bellows, her lips pressed thinly as she holds her laughter at bay. "We have guests" She tries to convince Embry only to be met with another nuzzle and his wandering fingers at her sides.

"Guests?" Embry snorts as he continues to tickle the happiest woman in the world, her dark curls bouncing. Slowing his movements he allows her to catch her breath and cups her face gently, his thumb wiping away some of the tears which have gathered on her cheeks. "These are my best friends. My family. _Our_ family" He whispers as he brushes his lips against hers, Jacob turning his head to the side in an attempt to give them just that little bit of privacy.

"Alright. Now let me up, I have plans" Charlotte announces as she scurries off Embry's lap and check her hair in the reflection of the photo frame hanging on the beige walls.

"Really? Hot date?" Quil suggests, eyebrows shuffling above his eyes.

With a snort Charlotte gives Quil the finger by slipping her hand behind her back. Popping her lips a couple of times she rubs the red gloss over her lips to fill in places which have been smudged.

Taking a sip of his beer, Jacob raises an eyebrow as he looks toward Embry, his lips smudged with Charlotte's missing gloss and his hair slightly disheveled.

"No. My brother is picking me up from Seattle. My grandmother is in a nursing home, so every couple of weeks when Darryl isn't working at the docks or he gets a day off, he comes down and we go there for the day. The folks home are having some kind of music collective tonight so I'll be gone tonight and after I spend some time with Gran tomorrow, Darryl will bring me back."

Jacob can see the way Embry's fist tightens around his beer and the slight twitch which has taken up residence in his foot.

"You remember Darryl right Jake?" Quil asks, giving Jacob a pointed look.

"Yeah, great guy" Embry remarks with a roll of his eyes.

"I'll see you later Em." Charlotte whispers as she stands behind him and bends to drop a kiss on his cheek. "I'll call you to let you know how long I'll be tomorrow."

"You know I could have taken you right?" Embry whines as he turns on the sofa to look at his wife. "You don't have to get '_Darryl_' to pick you up all the time" The way Embry says his brother-in-law's name has Jacob taking another sip of his beer.

"I hardly ever get to see my brother babe" She sighs, clipping a loose piece of hair back with a bobby pin. "Next time we can go down alright?" Charlotte promises. "Just me and you"

"Fine" Embry huffs, taking a generous sip of his beer, continuing to pout like a six year old.

"I love you Embry. Boys"

"See ya Char" Quil salutes her with his beer as she walks toward the door, a small pack back with clothes over her shoulder.

"Have fun" Jacob announces quietly with the nod of his head.

"Love you too" Embry grumbles, dropping his head back as he hears the rumble of Darryl Raven's truck pull up and the soft click of the front door, signaling his wife's exit.

"So - I'm guessing you and Darryl still don't see eye to eye?"

With a scoff Embry's head shoots back up and his eyes glance to Jacob incredulously. "Don't see - don't - what the hell? Darryl is a bully Jake, plain and simple. He doesn't _want_ to see eye to eye. He still treats me like we're still in grade school. He still treats me like I'm eleven years old and lower than the scum on his shoe."

"Maybe I could have a word with him?" Jacob suggests, remembering how he and Darryl would square up in the playground the next day, glaring and eying each other up. "You know, for old time's sake?"

"Shit" Quil mutters excitedly as he jumps up to replace his now empty beer. Twisting off the tops of the three beers he hands them around. "Could you imagine that? No offense Jake but have you seen Darryl? He ain't no wolf but the guy is still built like a brick shit house."

Embry laughs, and while it is restrained Jacob can see the familiar Embry shining back in his eyes; the Embry he used to know.

"Hey - remember that time we spied on your sister's sleep over party?" Quil jokes, reaching over to punch Jacob's arm playfully. "It was the first time I ever saw a girls tits. It was so wrong, but so right at the same time"

"Yeah and Jake's dad almost killed us all" Embry comments, leaning forward to place his empty bottle on the coffee table and grasp the new brew.

"Yeah" Jacob chuckles, running a hand over the back of his neck. "Except I got an eye full of my sister's" Jacob shudders remembering the encounter.

That summer was the first time Jacob and the rest of the boys realised their attraction to the opposite sex. Rachel and Becca had conveniently been planning a sleep over as was Jacob, the only exception being his guests would have to sneak through the window and not enter through the front door.

The three of them had been hovering outside of the twin's bedroom when the girls all decided to change into their bathing suites and go down to the beach. Fortunately instead of going to the bathroom, the girls just starting stripping and changing into their bathing suites. Embry almost fainted, Quil's eyes widened so much Jacob thought he was having a heart attack, and Jacob himself was speechless. They were convinced that had they been able to see from the waist down they would have died of shock, the view of waist up having already such an adverse affect on them.

"I became a man the day I looked through that window" Quil states proudly as he drops back into the couch, a strange look over his features.

"It was the first day I officially had the hots for Becca" Embry states smugly, a shit eating grin plastered over his face. "No offense Jake, but your sisters were packing" He gaffs out, simultaneously as he is hit with a couch pillow thrown by his friend.

"Last time I checked, they still were" Quil laughs as he also dodges a pillow.

"You guys are sick. Not only are they my sisters - well - guys! They're my sister's" Jacob whines as he covers his face with his hand, trying not to remember the look of horror on his sister's face when they caught the three of them by the window. To say Billy was upset would have been the understatement of the year. His father was close to boiling, imaginary clouds of smoke pouring out his ears as he lectured the three of them on privacy, sexual harassment and the disappointment he felt in the three young boys.

"Sorry bro" Embry offers a kind smile as he clinks his beer bottle against both his best friends' drinks. "How about we make a toast?"

"Yeah, yeah" Quil bounces happily, shuffling forward to the edge of his chair. "To becoming a man" He shouts proudly, one hand over his heart and his beer in the air.

"To friends" Embry grins. "Old and new, may we never be caught looking through windows again"

Jacob laughs as he holds his own drink in the air, contemplating his own toast. "To LaPush-" He says suddenly, taking his two best friends off guard "- a place of fond memories and friends. A place of family."

Cheering loudly, along with Quil thrumming his palms against the coffee table in a celebratory rhythm each wolf drinks down the rest of their beverage, followed by a god awful 'hoo ha'.

Jacob feels the release of tension in his neck as he sits with his friends, listening to them bicker back and forth amongst each other as if a day had not passed between them. Slinking into the couch he listens as they tell him about the things that he has missed both drama and happiness surrounding all the members of the pack. It shocks him to learn that Charlotte is not Embry's imprint, their connection seeming so similar to that of Sam and Emily's. Embry explains kindly the reason's he married Charlotte and the reason's he would never leave her. It's love, plain and simple. There aren't any bows and ribbons, honey suckle and lace, just old fashioned love. They fight, they argue, the drive each other absolutely crazy but at the end of the day, neither of them want to be anywhere else.

Jacob feels that familiar pang of jealousy flare inside him once again. He wants what Embry has, wants that simple, passionate, indescribable love. He wants the arguments, the rage and the unbridled want for each other. He wants to mean as much to Bella as she means to him and he hates to think that he's going to settle for less. His thought's derail and he knows it's all too much for one day, so he kicks up his feet and let's himself fall into the familiarity that is his childhood and just lets the afternoon play out.

It's like old times again, and for the first time in a long time, he doesn't want to be anywhere else.

...

Leah hops from the truck, allowing the door to shut softly, and walks toward the small basin attached to the make shift wooden fence. Dipping her fingers into the cool water she washes her hands thoroughly. It is a tradition; a task which had stayed with her ever since her father had shown her as a child.

There were spiritual restrictions amongst the buried. Things that were buried were sacred and had to be left alone and un-interfered with. That which was sacred could not be touched by human contact, and in some cases, not even approached. A violation of such could have dire consequences, including the death of the offender through sickness or at the hands of someone affected by the offense. Even the chief's house was sacred. But most importantly they had to be surrounded by a protective fence.

Running her damp hands over her jeans she steps inside the gate making sure to close the clasp tightly. Leaving such a place open would make her ancestors restless, their borders and restrictions being allowed to leek through the open fence.

Running her eyes around the property, she glowers and reaches to check the phone again making sure she'd read Seth's message correctly. Running her eyes over the message she feels her heart sink just like it had the first time.

_'He's with mom'_

Tucking the phone away she steps carefully down the track, trying not to damage or interrupt anything. Grained flowers beds grow to the left while leafy green moss builds on the old stone and granite fixtures. Leah hates that she's had to come here, the memories of her father and his strong hand around hers draining through the sieve she's tried to erect in her mind.

The smooth coffee and cream reflection of his skin finds her line of sight and suddenly she can feel her heart racing. He's sitting amongst the grass, his knees drawn up and his elbows resting above them. His head is down but she can see the way his body trembles, his shoulders shaking just ever so slightly.

Her eyes shut tightly, her lip caught between her teeth as she gnaws against the flesh. He's hurting and as his mother she feels her stomach crunch with the want to make it better. But the guilt she feels inside makes her stumble to a stop. Did he really want her comfort? What if she couldn't fix him, his problems, and his life? What if she was just a hopeless harpy who couldn't make any one happy or bring joy to anything?

Pushing aside the ill thoughts, she prepares to do what any normal human being would do.

She doesn't give him time to push her away as she drops to her knees behind him, her knees shuffling into the soil and her hands wrapping around his shoulders. She's caught him by surprise but she doesn't allow him to move. Laying her cheek on his shoulder blade she allows him to cry, sob and even scream.

She doesn't care how long it takes for him to stop. She just wants to take away the pain, if only by a small amount. She wants to feel the pain of what she's done to him, she wants him to rip the grass from its roots, pound his fists into the damp soil, scream at her and tell her that she'd made the biggest mistake of her life by giving him up.

"I always knew-" He sobs, this hands trying to wipe away the fogged mess of tears on his face.

Leah can smell the alcohol; smell the rate which it is burning out of his system as she hushes him with smoothing strokes across his chest.

"I knew that somehow _you_ meant - _more_ - to me than anybody else"

Seth had warned her about the sounds he'd heard while he was talking to Jacob. The sound of a cracking twig had boomed in her brother's ear, even if it was several hundred feet away. Seth had known someone was listening, watching the two of them - he'd just hoped it wasn't August.

"I'm sorry, so so sorry" Leah croaks, her own face stained with the tears she had worn every night she sat up thinking about him, about the time she'd missed with him. Running her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck she suddenly realises that all his hair is gone, replaced only by jagged cuts and uneven lengths.

"I cut my hair" He states softly, feeling her hands brush through his shorter cut. "I didn't think you'd have time to do it"

Before Leah can stop herself she bursts out laughing, hugging him tightly to her chest, even with the huge size difference. "You're an idiot" She states, allowing her voice to drop even lower as she curls her fingers through the hair around his ears.

"I'll always have time for you August. Above anything else, you are the only thing worth fighting for in my Godforsaken life. You will always be the best thing I have ever done, and don't you let anyone _ever_ tell you otherwise."

* * *

><p>AN - I was really supposed to be working on Purple Hearts yesterday, however, my 14 month old godson, Seth, was stalking me and every time I went near the laptop he thought it was his cue to smash the keys into smithereens with his pudgy baby hands. Damn him and his cuteness...<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

**I do not own Twilight**

* * *

><p>…<p>

Entangled

[ VIX ]

…

"Do you understand now?" Leah asks August as she steps from behind the tree, pulling the over sized jumper back down into place having just phased back. Phasing had seemed like the best option, the quickest way to show her son everything he needed to know; deserved to know.

He stands with a disgusted look on his face as he ties up the elastic of his basketball shorts, securing then enough to hang on his hips. She can see his anger, the way his eyes flash with betrayal, with a longing for the childhood he could never had.

"Oh I understand alright. I'm different from the pack. I'm just like _them_." He grimaces as he finishes the knot in his shorts and begins to pace back and forth, his feet trampling the grass and fallen leaves into the ground.

Each crunch of the leaves under his bare feet make her flinch. She watches as he circle's around the area with large hard steps, his hands pulling at the ends on his now shorter hair. She should have anticipated this reaction and she was more than willing and ready to accept all the responsibility.

Pressing her lips together, she tries to get a reign on her thoughts in order to explain to him that he is more special than any other child ever born, that he is the only on of his kind. Unique; just like her. "No you're not." She explains, twisting her fingers together feeling very much like the awkward teenager she used to be. "Edward's not like the ones we hunt Aug... he doesn't-"

"What? He doesn't _what_?" Her son sneers, challenging her authority over him. Leah can see the agitation, the shame and everything that is crumbling down on her son. She's put too much on him too quickly, that much is certain.

His pulse is still racing from the slide show of memories, bar the intimacy. She had wanted him to see _her_, how she was with Sam once upon a time and what she'd become after the imprint on her cousin. How she'd pulled herself away from the living and wished only for a quick death which heartbreak couldn't supply. He'd seen the once strong friendship she shared with Jacob, from the day he was born to the day he left with Bella Swan. How she'd pleaded with Jacob to stay and how he'd explain he couldn't. Her memories had also shown him the Volturi, the way they'd burned some of the packs homes to the ground, how they'd killed people from not only their reservation but the townships surrounding the area, how they'd taken her, tied her down, poked and prodded, punched and kicked at her.

Then he'd seen Edward. The Edward that was un-judging, who saw beauty differently to the others around him. Who judged her not by her scars but by her strengths. The Edward that made her feel like a woman, a beautiful, strong, _wanted_ woman. The Edward that was he father, that held him in his arms that day and despaired when Leah decided to place him with a family.

"He doesn't..." Shaking her head she tries to get the lump in her throat to slide down.

"Doesn't kill people you mean... That's it, isn't it?" August looks her dead in the eye before he begins pacing again. She can see how tense his body is, how he detests the thought of being like the vampires he hunts and protects the land from."But he did_._ Once upon a time he _was _a killer"

Rubbing her face with her palm Leah sighs out, knowing that what she offers is not an explanation but rather a complication.

"August, please stop pacing. It's making my head hurt."

It's like she's speaking to a brick wall as he continues to pace back and forth, from tree to tree.

"Why did you go to _him_? Of all people, why did you go to a leech?" He yells, eyebrow's pushing together as he turns to find her sitting on the cool grass, her fingers playing with the green blades around her.

"I didn't have a choice" She whispers, her eyes shut and her head down.

"You didn't have a choice? What bullshit is that?"

"Don't curse"

"Fuck Leah - Alpha - _mom_, what do you expect me to do? You want me to swallow all of this? Not only do I find out your my mother, but that my father is a fucking parasite!"

"Don't talk about him like that August" Leah counters, pushing her self from the ground to stand in front of her son. "You don't know anything about him"

"Damn right I don't. That's your fault you know - that's on _you_" He points, his hand shaking as it remains suspended in the air.

Shoving her hands deep into her hair, she fists at the locks and closes her eyes. He doesn't stop. His accusations, his hurt, and it's all on her. All of it. And he's right. She was the reason August didn't know Edward, she was the reason he grew up in a home without the love he deserved and she was the reason August was crying in front of her mothers grave. His grandmother had died, and he didn't even know.

"Stop it" She whispers as her teeth clench and her ears pound.

"I want to see him"

"No" She growls out automatically, her fists balling and her body vibrating. "You can't. I won't allow it. You are not ready"

"You owe me this Leah. You _owe_ me."

...

"Bella I'm off"

Her father's voice bellows through the house, her ears perking as she listens for the slow hum of his cruiser to start. When she can hear the gravel crunching underneath the brand new Yokohama tyres Charlie had put on the truck yesterday, she slowly slips her hand underneath the cool lavender pillow. Her fingers run over the tiny lady bug sticker before she pulls the device out from it's nestling place. Flipping open the lip of the laptop she gets into a more comfortable position, arranging the large bed shirt and re-pulling her long sleeping socks up to her calves. Sitting on the bed she pulls the covers over her cold shoulders and logs on with a password only she knows.

Instantly a white screen shoots up showing her exactly where she'd left off the night before when she'd fallen asleep in contemplation. The page is blank and she studies it for a moment, watching the tiny cursor flash incessantly at her, as if taunting her, teasing her as if it knows just how much she is struggling to put it all down in words. Her life. Or rather, the life she should have had.

Pushing a piece of hair away from her face she tucks it behind her ear and runs her bottom lip through her teeth, tugging and pulling at the pillow of flesh until it hurts. She wants the words to pop out at her but she once again, struggles to begin. Frustration rings through her body, and she wants nothing more than to close the lid and be done with it.

Shaking her head she reaches for her red folder, her fingers slipping underneath the hard cover to reveal the first page. Tugging the small photo from the paper clip, she delicately unfolds it to find her own reflection on the glossy print. However, instead of her eyes looking back at her like a mirror would provide, her eyes are drawn to the tall, beautiful figure beside her.

_Edward_.

His bronze hair contrasts against the dark background and her fingers trace the sharpness of his jaw, the narrowness of his nose and the golden cast eyes which he adorns. He sings to her even on paper as she remembers the way his long fingers would glide so effortlessly over the piano, how the left corner of his lip would tug up before his right and how his body, while cold, kept her warmer than he would ever know. There had been many times she'd lay in this very bed with him, just listening to his velvet like voice as it slowly rocked her to sleep. A voice unlike any others/

Placing the picture down on the corner the laptop, she stares at the blank page and slowly runs her fingers over the black keys. She knows that every good writer deserves a pen name and she had been thinking of one all night, even while she slept. She'd need something that was close to her - which meant something to her. A name that would replace her own boring, dull name. Her thoughts had swirled around many names, but with so many options it was almost painful to decide. Slowly she'd gone through the names of her mother's family, from cousin's to aunts, but it was her grandmother Stephanie's name which seemed to linger much longer than the others had.

Shaking her head again, she slowly presses down against the keys to translate her tale, or at least the tale she wishes her life had taken. All the way from the beginning.

[ * ]

_ Preface_

…

_I'd never given much thought to how I would die - though I'd had reason enough in the last few months - but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this._ _I stared without breathing across the long room, into the dark eyes of the hunter, and he looked pleasantly back at me._

[ * ]_  
><em>

...

Seth watches the two sitting awkwardly on the steps of the house. He wants to say something, maybe lighten the situation some, but he knows it would do only so much. As he scrubs the dish lightly he does notice a few things though, that only by knowing the pair he can see.

Leah's shoulders look a little lighter, like the burden she had been carrying with her had somewhat lifted now that August knew. Even though there was still so much to explain, consider, contemplate over; she'd at least taken the first step.

August sits, his forearms braced on his knees and his hand cupping his chin. They're both looking toward the wood line in silence but he can feel the connection of energy now holding the two together. In so many ways August is the splitting personality of his sister, while less timid in some aspects, just as passionate in others. He wants to say that the boy is all Leah but he knows that it would be a blatant lie. Only the old members of the pack know August's heritage, having breathed and lived through the saga of his sister's life and mind, and it's just as well the Alpha command had worked on the rest.

Having once been friends with the Cullen's, Seth can see the similarities in the boy. He is far more graceful than the other pack members around his physical age, he is faster, stronger, more lethal than all of them combined. His sense of smell also differs, having the uncanny trait of being able to smells things to which even Seth himself cannot smell. The supernatural is August gives him a greater edge over the rest of the wolves and Seth knows that in the grand scheme of things, the boy had been created from something special, something almost... divine.

Drying the plates from the rack he listens carefully to the conversation taking place, and while uninvited, he feels the need to be included. After all, he wasn't the Beta in the pack for nothing.

"Are you really sure about this?"

"Yes" August answers curtly, glancing towards his sister. "I need to make sure"

"You think I'd lie to you? Wait - don't answer that" She sighs, allowing her shoulders to slump.

"Good call"

Placing a dish on the bench, Seth picks up another between the tea towel and begins rubbing the smooth surface.

"Was there ever anything between you and Jacob?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well - this feels totally wrong since you're my mom and all, but - it kinda feels like there is something deeper between you, you know? Something... some kind of freaking connection or some shit"

"What did I tell you about swearing?" Leah asks with a cocked eyebrow and a halfhearted glare, before she huffs "There isn't. We were friends. Now we're not. End of story"

"Fine. Just asking, since we're on a roll of earth shattering revelations and all, today. I don't want to wake up tomorrow and find out that I have some half-sister over in another reservation that you two cooked up before I was born"

"Hey - I may have made mistakes in my life but I am not whoring myself out in the pack" His sister replies softly, shoving her hands in her usual over sized jumper.

"I didn't say that. I just-"

Leah takes a deep breath, glancing back at Seth knowing full well that he is listening from the kitchen.

"I didn't think I would ever have children. At all. Not because I didn't want them but because once I phased my body froze like all of the wolves. Menstruation stops and the possibility of children flies out the window for me. _You_... are the only exception. You grew inside me against all odds. You gave something that I thought I would never ever experience. You made me a mother... and while my methods may have been somewhat... disappointing, I don't regret you. Rather - I regret the things I could never give you."

Grasping another dish, Seth waits, his ears burning with intrigue.

"It would have been enough you know. Just... having you. Having someone who knew me." August sighs as his palm scrubs against his nose and then his cheeks.

"I'm sorry for doing what I did. I was so scared that I would accidentally smother you while I nursed or that I would hurt you somehow; that the vampires would come for you because of who _I_ am... because of who you are. You are the greatest thing in my life, and to keep you safe I would do anything."

"Thanks. I guess" August shrugs, his back tensing and his head shooting up as the silver Volvo pulls into the drive.

"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?" Leah asks, glancing toward the car but only catching an eyeful of bronzed mess sitting inside the dark car awaiting his guest.

"I'm sure. I think I just need to meet him on my own"

"Will you be back?" She asks, standing upon the step as she watches her son walk towards Edward's car, with her arms wrapped around her middle.

"Sure"

"Call me when you are ready to come home"

"Alright"

And with a wave he's gone.

...

Jacob eyes are shut, his mind still clouded with sleep and the familiar taste of whiskey on the tip of his tongue. After the beer had run out they'd pulled down the two bottles of vintage whiskey Embry's mom had given him and Charlotte for their wedding. Granted that there was no time to celebrate like the present, Embry had no qualms in opening the bottles and sharing them around even when the last drop had been drained from the funny shaped bottles.

His sheets are still damp, the realisation dawning on him that he'd crawled into bed with wet boxers after being thrown in the shower by his father. Blackness darkens parts of his memories from the night before as he scrubs his hands over his face, trying to remember how he'd even gotten home. With a throaty groan he turns his back toward the window in an attempt to block out the sunlight which blares through the wide part in the curtains. He'd definitely make sure to hang better curtains in the room tomorrow.

"Seems like you had a good night"

The voice rings in his ears and his eyes struggle their way open as soon as his slow working brains places the voice. She's standing with her back to him, her fingers running over the carved wood of his old redwood dresser. He tries not to appraise her body but he can't help it, not when she's inside his room, touching his stuff. It seems only fair.

Her shoulders are straight; unlike Bella who always seems to be slouching to hide herself. Her arms are tucked and toned tightly, the slightly curve of muscle only coming to the forefront when she balls her hands or twists her arms. Her back is straight and long, leading his eyes towards the curve of her hips and continuing on to her leanly built legs. She exerts power and dominance while at the same time basking in everything that is feminine. Her scent, the softness in her lines, the slide of muscle over her calves; it all lives and breathe woman.

_Female_.

"How did you get in here?" He asks, finding his voice albeit hoarse. It feels as though a thousand horses are galloping through his mind and he finds it hard, between her scent and the bright light, to concentrate on being anything but decent.

"Billy let me in" She tells him simply.

Silence surrounds them as he watches her step around his room, inspecting and taking in all of the things he had left behind when he'd gone with Bella to Phoenix. His small single bed remains, the drawers, his stacked collection of magazines and un-returned high school books, as well as a fair amount of the clothes he can no longer fit and hasn't been able to since his first phase. A problem most of the pack shared.

"It's still the same" Leah adds, as she turns toward him to lean against the dresser, a small carved wolf twirling between her fingertips.

"What is?" Jacob mumbles as he throws off the thin sheet slowly, his hand clutching the side of his head to stop the deep rhythmic throb of the hangover which feels closer to death than anything he's felt before.

"Your room. This house." She shrugs nonchalantly as she sets the wolf back down on the dresser.

"Right" He answers as he stands, making his way to the small bathroom which conjoins his and the twins old room. Pulling the tap he allows to the cold water to gather in his palms before he splays it over his face and rubs his eyes. Pulling a damp hand through his hair he grasps his toothbrush and lathers it with minty paste. It feels better not to have the sickly sweet taste of whiskey in his mouth and he can almost pick up hints of tobacco.

_'Was I smoking last night?'_

Without even glancing in the mirror he knows she is in the same room but the shift in aura and heat. That flowery, earthy, potent scent of her femininity wafts through his nostrils confirming his suspicion. He wants to close his eyes and draft the smell further into his lungs but is afraid he might swallow the toothbrush from his greed. He's never smelt anything like it, and in many ways he's afraid of it.

"I need to talk to you" She says softly, her tone dropping several decibels.

His eyebrows scrunch together. Her behaviour is off and the usual facade of 'angry bitch' has now been replaced with something different. Something unusual and strange, his mind automatically pointing toward and inevitable trap. "About?" He mumbles around the froth in his mouth which is making it's way down his chin.

A pause greets them and she gulps slowly, building up the power to speak. "I want your deal."

Spitting out the white foam, Jacob rinses his mouth out and grabs a hand towel to dab his chin. Turning to her he locks on to her eyes and stares at her for a few moments trying to figure out if she is being serious or not. Her normally narrowed eyes are open wide, the hazel sparkling deeply inside them. It's the first time he's seen her with this certain look on her face and he is not sure what to make of it.

"Did Seth tell you what it's going to entail?"

"Yes" She nods slowly.

"That we are going to have to be alone in the tent. That I am going to have to touch you? That anything I say you will have to do?"

With a disheartened sigh she nods again. "He told me"

"And you're fine with all of that?" Jacob asks unbelieving that she would be willing to give up so much to him.

Grinding her teeth, she holds back the snarl which can be heard building in her chest. "I don't exactly have a choice now, do I?"

Walking past her, Jacob heads to his draw and pulls out plaid shirt and a pair of black jeans. He can see the silent question she asks at the clothes he holds by the way her head cocks slightly to the side. It's not often he wears _actual_ clothes and that fact had probably instigated her look of wonder.

"I need coffee" He explains, holding up the clothes.

"Billy's already put a pot-"

"No. I need _real_ coffee. Coffee shop coffee."

Smiling slightly, Leah nods, knowing the feeling of drinking freshly brewed, steaming hot coffee. "Well after breaking into Brady's father liquor cabinet I wouldn't be surprised." She states smugly, knowing that he doesn't exactly remember everything that he and the boys had gotten up to.

"Shit. We did that?"

"Yep" Leah replies, leaning against the frames as Jacob dresses himself. "Charlie brought you home by the way. Seems you boys really like the look of the window sills, especially other people's"

"Oh God" Jacob groans as he hops into the jeans, pulling them up his legs and flicking the button together at the front. "I can never face Charlie again" He mumbles, stretching his red and black plaid shirt over his shoulders and weaving his fingers around the loops and buttons.

"It's your father you should worry about. The old man's been grumbling all morning about disrespectful this, little shit that. I think he might even be pulling his belt off his waist as we speak"

"Don't joke with me Lee. That belt hurts like nobody's business"

Chuckling together they stop as their eyes meet again. Jacob doesn't know why or even how the conversation between them is flowing so smoothly, just like old tim-

"Well, I better go" Leah announces, flicking her thumb to the door. Her other hand slowly slinks into her pocket and Jacob can see that she is grasping something, a phone maybe. The slight vibration in her arm tells him that her phone is ringing but has been placed on silent.

"Hey, I thought we were getting coffee?" He says softly, wanting to step forward but not wanting to break the progress that they have made this morning.

"_We_? Oh well - rain check?" She offers out a small frown creasing her forehead.

"Sure Leah. Whenever you're ready"

...

As soon as Leah reaches the tree line she brushes through the overhang of fallen branches and slams her back against a thick tree trunk. Breathing deeply she lifts one of her hands and watches it tremble. Curling the hand into a fist she clutches it to her chest in an attempt to slow her rapidly beating heart.

The vibration of her cell against her hip has her digging out the device and pressing it to her ear. Her lips are dry and her throat feels like it's constricting, holding back the sound of her voice.

"Leah... Is it done?" Seth asks through the ear piece.

Licking her lips Leah nods "Yeah Seth... it's done."

"What did he say?"

"He didn't say much, made small talk, wanted to get coffee"

"You going?"

"No" She scoffs as she pulls a hand through her tangled hair.

"I'll see you soon then"

"Yeah, soon..."

* * *

><p>AN - What are Leah and Seth up to? What the fuck is August thinking, getting into a car with Edward, on his own? Jeez.<p>

[ * ] Extract taken from the first book in the Twilight Saga, to which SM owns.


	10. Chapter 10

**I do not own Twilight**

* * *

><p>…<p>

Entangled

[ X ]

…

The car ride over has been desolate of any _real_ conversation. Hellos had been exchange awkwardly in the beginning, leaving the rest of the twenty minute drive painfully silent. August feels thankful to the vampire for having had the windows cracked open to let the fresh air in making it drown out the strange scents that mingle in the cabin of the European car.

August notices firstly that Edward smells different to the other vampires he had helped the pack exterminate; vampires that had stalked and preyed on humans close to the reservation and nearby areas. Instead of the normal rotten peaches and fairy floss combination, the bronze haired creature smells more like a pound of sugar left too long in the sun; sweet but in a sickly way. He wonders if it has anything to do with the fact that the vampire next to him drinks the blood of animals, rather than that of humans. Most of the pack memories had referred to the Cullen family as _'vegetarians'_ but in his mind blood was blood; it's source coming from the veins of a living organism, regardless.

Pulling on to the Cullen property, August lets the scenery soak in to his memory banks, noticing first the large iron wrought gate that is embellished with some kind of old English family crest, most probably belonging to the coven of vampires. The sprawling collection of trees and overhang huddle the drive before they break; exposing the biggest house he's ever seen in his short life. It's extravagant and almost boastful given the living conditions of the people from towns around the area.

Life and families on the Rez came from simple beginnings which led to simple ends; small brick houses, tin and timber clad shack structures often adorned of the sprawling areas. But _this_ house - this house was all fabricated steel and glass coupled with grey solid brick, resembling more a modern day castle than a house.

Stopping in the drive August reaches for the latch and steps from the small silver car. He shuts the door gently fearful of breaking something he could not afford to replace nor fix. Even though the car looks like more like a weird spaceship, he knows the brand and had seen it and its prices on countless ads on the TV. Why anyone would pay such a steep price for an unattractive car was beyond him. Cars driven around the Rez were often ten years or older and most often than not, a few thousand bucks depending on the condition. Georgie had owned an old Toyota hatch she'd picked up for a five hundred bucks and while the small red monstrosity was held together by nothing but rust, the engine was sound making it reliable enough for them to travel to and from the store in.

Glancing at the still fountain August stops to admire it and wonders how many years it has sat and been _allowed_ to sit, tree vines and moss covering most of its grey slate structure. Vines creep along the outside of the house as well, beckoning to be let inside and devour the massive steel frame; like a mythical green, tentacle bearing demon, knocking against its outer walls. In all truthfulness the house is an eyesore which sticks out painfully from the true beauty of the forest around it. It is out of place, strange and looks like it doesn't belong.

The house is _so_ much like he feels.

"You live here by yourself?" August asks to break the silence, having never ventured to this part of Forks before, the property being much closer to the eastern bloc rather than close to the central part of the shopping district. He's heard stories of the Cullen's from the other pack members but has been under the belief that none of them still occupied the area. The wolf in him doesn't like the possibility of more of the undead so close to Quileute land and it becomes restless awaiting an answer.

"Yes," The vampire replies smoothly as his hand flexes around the door handle to push it open. "But you get used to it after a while"

August listens and begins to contemplate the social aspects of vampires. The ones which they had torn apart and burned had been solitary or travelled only with few in tow. He's seen them as monsters, creatures of the dead that fed off of the humanity of people and sought to destroy the foundations of life itself. But looking around the home he spots items which could not possibly be translated as monstrous. Pictures in silver frames hang to the white walls. Pictures of moments in time, people dressed in graduation gowns of the local Forks High, of Christmas mornings and of solid loving embraces. He doesn't like the way the vampires in the photos mingle so easily with the humans around them, and had he not been – what – he is, he may have never been able to tell them apart.

"The one in the purple is Rosalie, next to her is her mate Emmett. I think Rosalie would have liked you and Emmett, well, Emmett likes everyone and to all our amazement it's vice versa"

August nods politely as he takes in the photo of the huge burly brown haired male vampire with the infectious smile, and the curvy blonde female with a scowl that could match his – that could match _Leah's_ scowl.

Gesturing to another photo, August's eyes follow the outstretched finger.

"This is Alice and Jasper, also mates. All four are like my siblings as we all are in similar age brackets when we were turned. This one is of Esme and Carlisle, our parents for all intensive purposes"

He studies the photos in earnest, trying to find similarities in all of the vampires but only collectively finding one - their golden eyes. Standing in the living area he feels a sense of comfort mingling with a sense of danger. While the creature in the room _is_ his biological father, he is _still_ the enemy. The thought unsettles him and he wonders what had made him decline Leah's presence and opt to go somewhere with someone he knows nothing about. He has seen Leah's memories but he wonders if her opinion has become biased over the years and perhaps she is merely only showing him what she wants him to see.

"Would you like a tour of the house?" Edward asks smoothly, eliciting only a nod from the young hybrid.

Footsteps are heard around the house as they walk in silence, Edward doing his best to explain the purposes of the rooms and various items inside on occasion; like the statue of a giant lion, a painting of strangely dresses men in olden day costumes. The hall ways are long and the count of rooms incredible, though most items are covered with white cloth to keep from dust and insects. Other rooms like the library and music rooms remain used and August senses that Edward has so many things in his undead life that he could recite most of the event through the last century by memory.

"The piano was a gift to Carlisle from an English king he once helped. The king's daughter had becoming gravely ill and Carlisle took it upon himself to heal her until she was strong enough to be in the care of her maids. I acquired it after many _many_ years. I hope one day to give it to you, should you be interested?" Edward smiles as they stand at the lip of the large room, musical instruments covering the grounds surface.

Stuttering, August struggles to find composure but knows he has to decline "Ah thanks - but I don't really have anywhere to put it. Plus I'm more of drum kit kind of guy," he offers truthfully.

"Ahh, I see and I may have just the thing," Edward grins as he steps into the room and pulls away a large sheet on top of a piling. "Emmett shares your same passion and I'm certain he wouldn't mind if you sampled his collection. I believe his inspiration came from watching a rock band in the early eighties and swore black and blue that he needed one to fulfil his life's goals. Needless to say, it was used for a month before he moved on to bigger and better things"

The silver and black shines from each piece of the collection of drums and Augusts mouth hangs slightly agape. It looks more expensive than some of the houses like alone car on the Rez and his fingers buzz with electricity as he runs them lightly over the soft hallow tops.

"It's awesome," he breathes in amazement, glancing at the two drum sticks sitting against the leather pouch. "I bet it sounds wicked good but - maybe next time"

"Of course," Edward nods as he covers the drum kit once again. "Would you like anything to drink? I asked the lady in the store what teenagers drank nowadays and I left with a vast variety of options. Juice, energy drinks, some doctor who named a pepper drink-"

"Water's fine. I get kind of hyped up on fizzy drinks and can't sit still"

As Edward exits the room August follows for a moment but decides to wait in the hallway and takes the opportunity to glance at the assorted artworks that hang on the walls. He can tell that they're old with much of the oils chipping close to the edges while the rest of the painting still manages to look fairly cared for.

Making his way to the stairs to head back toward the living room, he spots a door that he does not recognise and figures they must have skipped it earlier. Raising his chin he checks the stairs before stepping back toward the door in curiosity. He wonders what could be inside and why Edward felt it was pivotal enough to disregard. Turning the handle slowly and trying to make as less noise as possible, he pushes the handle open and slides inside the room with ease.

The sight in front of him has him speechless and he feels an ache in his chest that hadn't been there before. The room is different than the others and he can tell that more personal touches have been used in the endeavour to decorate it.

Instead of the harsh white colour which the rest of the house burns in, the walls are an off green giving it a lightness which makes the rest of the room pop. A huge dark wood crib sits under the large moulded window; its sheeting consisting of embroidered white and blue striped covers reminding him of a sailing ship. A stained cherry wood dresser holds all kinds of children's clothing ranging in sizes as well as toys. Even the walls are graced with tiny silver instrumental notes clinging to the paint which look as though they are dancing from the crib and around the room.

Walking over to the crib August picks up the stripped pillow and brushes the material under his palm. It's so soft and light and it makes him slightly dizzy. Lifting the pillow he sniffs it and realises that it is void of any vampiric scent except for one.

Hearing a creak in the floor boards he drops the pillow hurriedly and spins around to find Edward lingering in the doorway, watching him with his burning gold eyes. In an attempt to get away from the crib August accidentally bumps the mobile hanging over it with his elbow setting off the small device.

Silence no longer fills the room, in its stead, a musical accompaniment begins. Low whispered tones of musical notes fill the air and August feels like he's frozen on the spot and that he really should have minded his own business.

"It's _Bach_," Edward remarks as he nods toward the mobile while passing August the bottle of water, completely un-phased at the boys presence in the room.

"Prelude no12. I had it made to play classical music - _that_ arrangement specifically. Did you know Bach believed that God could hear him and was closer to him, through his compositions?"

"I'm sorry for barging in here. I thought-"

"It's fine," Edward gestures with a wave of his hand. Slowly he moves toward the dresser and picks up a small antique looking model car to twirl it between his fingers before he sets it back down with a sigh. August knows that it is Edward who has decorated this room - that it's Edward who finds some kind of solace here by holding on to things that obviously could never and had never been.

"Do you believe in God?"

Edward only offers a shrug to the question August has asked.

"If you don't believe in God, why would you put music that was dedicated to Him in a child's room?" August asks, cocking his head to the side and regarding Edward's posture. He is stiff and tense as always but there is fluidity in the way he moves that sets the hairs on the back of his neck alight.

The hairs bristle against a simple gold chain that was given to him by Leah when he first phased. It's cool temperature against his heated skin allows some relief especially with the accompaniment of a thin gold cross which sits just under the hollow of his throat. He himself had always been torn between the beliefs of God in a world full of already so much unbelievable circumstances. Before now, wearing the necklace had only felt like a sign of gratitude toward Leah without any religious ramifications attached, but now the cross feels heavier, tense, as if the metal had suddenly thickened around his neck and hung like a burden.

"All I know is - _if_ there is a God - I am damned because of my inability to believe. But for a child - it remains a choice. Whether to believe in divine beings is a choice we must all make for ourselves and no parent should take that away from a child. To take away choices is to limit them, not only in life but in their own minds"

"So - you really don't believe do you?"

"My mind is still being made up August. Your creation for instance is not _just_ luck. Perhaps a much superior being played his part to be able to genetically create such a – unique - child as you. But perhaps the extra chromosome both vampires and shape-shifters carry enabled as such. I still do not know"

"How can you not believe when you are subject to the belief of whether or not vampires have a soul? _Yours_ in particular. Believing that you have no soul is one thing, but believing in the foundations of a soul in the first instance would imply belief in Him," August grunts as he leans his weight on one foot, trying to balance his uncertainty away. Georgie, no matter how fucked up her life had gotten, had always been a woman who believed in God. Her faith in the good of people had been so badly tarnished it had amazed August every single day and only proved to him that she was one of the strongest people he knew. She had still believed after so much violence, so much heart break and so much evil around her.

"Huh," Edward frowns "Leah told you about that did she?"

His long thin fingers scratch through the ruffled mess of hair before his golden eyes rise from the floor to meet Augusts.

"She showed me everything. Pack mind remember" He replies as he taps a finger to his temple while simultaneously clucking his tongue against the roof of his mouth, a habit he'd inadvertently picked up from patrolling with Paul.

"I always hoped she'd change her mind, you know" he sighs out making August feel suddenly uncertain and unable to look at the bronzed haired male in front of him. "She's a good woman and everything she does is for a reason, whether you understand it or not. A part inside me still hoped she'd bring _you_ back to me though. This room was something I could be proud of, something I used to hold on to the memory of you"

August swallows deftly but it feels as though it can be heard it a mile away. The air is thick and hangs with unsaid words and stolen moments.

"The first day I saw, you took my breath away. You were so small, so defenceless and absolutely perfect. To know that I had helped make you made all the wrongs in my life suddenly less painful. You represented the only thing pure in my world and stood for the one thing I no longer have"

August felt like his throat was closing up and scratchy, but spoke anyway. "Which was?"

"Life, August. It is what I gave you but can never have for myself. Your heart beats just as strong as it had the first time I held you in my arms and walked with you amongst the grounds. When I saw you I knew you were mine and you had me in you. My eyes were once green, the same green as my mother, your _real_ grandmother.

When I look into the mirror I do not see the real me anymore, but when I look at you... into _your_ eyes... I see it. I see the humanity that I once owned and the only real thing I could have given you.

_Life_"

...

"How's things down at the station? I heard Embry, Quil and my boy ruffled a few feathers the other night" Billy asks, eying his friend carefully over the top of his beer.

The smell of meat cooking and smoke wafts the area around them which allows its thick grey plume to poison the fresh air. The weather has been far from normal the last couple of days; chilling winds and cold fronts seem to be pushing over the majority of Washington, making Forks and LaPush the central point of impact. Cloud cover had been expected indefinitely over the next few weeks; however the chance of rain was relatively slim.

"It was nothing. Just boys being boys" Charlie coughs, waiving around the tongs in front of his face to divert the cloud of smoke.

"Nothing? Sure as Hell didn't look like nothing. Jake came home ranting about how his sisters had blinded him for life and that Embry had the largest feet he'd ever seen."

The old Quileute man chuckles as he takes another sip of cheap brew he and Charlie have always drunk. It feels good though at the same time disheartening to be back at the home his friend shared with Sue. Billy half expects her to step down the porch in all her radiant beauty, mouth lifted up into a smile and sun filtering warmth on her face as it had always done. Somewhere inside, it makes his heart run warmer remembering her stern concerned eyes raking over the both of them each time they'd come in from a fishing trip soaked to the bone from the raging storms that had settled in the area. She'd always been so thoughtful, so receptive to those around her, it seemed unfair that she'd had to suffer towards the end.

Letting out a silent sigh, Billy knows even the toughest, most distant man, i.e. Charlie, could have not resisted and eventually would fall in love with her. He knows the love was different to that which his friend had had with Bella's mother but in ways had been stronger far beyond it.

"Hopefully the warning I gave them all will heed them away from their late night peep shows. When I dropped young Quil home his grandmother held him at least a foot off the ground by his ear. Considering Lucy is five foot nothing, that's one Hell of a feat for the old girl"

"Ah Lucy Ateara, the bane of my existence," Billy hums thoughtfully, remembering the numerous times he's been scolded by old Quil's wife over the years. Even with her being eighteen years his senior she has been a force to be reckoned with, another strong back bone of the now dwindling elders of the Quileute tribe. "You know she actually used to smile instead of grumble?"

Billy laughs as he takes in Charlie's doubtful face, his friends also being privileged to Lucy's - wrath, on a number of occasions. "I don't believe you Black. You're pulling my leg"

"Do I look like I'd lie to you?" Billy fauns a hurt frown, laying a hand over his wide chest though allowing a shit eating grin to soon follow.

Shaking his head with a smile, Charlie mumbles "I plead the fifth"

"Ahh... Always the diplomat," Billy hums taking another healthy draw of his beer.

The foam settles lightly on his tongue as he lets out a sound of satisfaction, savouring the flavoured hoops. Glancing toward the house, he notices a dim lit light coming from one of the upstairs bedrooms. The sun is still out but the darkness of the house highlights the soft yellow glow of the light.

"Young Bella fitting in again alright? You must be glad to have her home?"

"I am," Charlie nods as he places down the tongs on the barbecues side table. Pulling a lawn chair closer, Charlie slumps back into its squeaky frame, his thighs holding tightly to the beer while his hands rub over his slight prickly stubble. "-glad I mean, that she's home. Fitting in, I'm not quite sure"

"Give her time. It's always hard after so long away"

"Billy-" Charlie begins as his face sets in a long hard frown. "- If someone you loved was doing something - something you knew was wrong, something that could hurt a lot of people - would you jeopardise your relationship with them - knowing they might never forgive you?"

Charlie's tone unsettles Billy but he takes it in stride and listens wistfully. Charlie has always endured to do right and this current dilemma he seems to be having is no different. A sigh leaves his lips as he begins to answer. "Buddy, you can tell me anything you know that right?"

Charlie nods but remains silent.

"And that I am far from being the one that would judge you?"

"Of course"

"You've always done the right thing Swan. It may take you a while to figure out what that is, but I trust you. And you should trust you too. You're a good guy and I suspect nothing you do is in malice so - think it over, weigh your decision and do what you have always done"

Letting out a short chuckle Charlie shakes his head and sips his beer. "And you call me the diplomat... Chief"

...

"You drank both bottles?" Charlotte scolds as she picks up another discarded plastic cup and places it in the black rubbish liner. Coming home to a house which had looked as if it had been rocked by a house full of frat boys was not something she had been looking forward to. After staying in Seattle for the night, coupled with the ride to and from the city, her back aches slightly and her fist feels as though it is bruised. It had been clenched tightly for most of the drive back, listening once again, to the achievements of her brother's life. She hates that she feels jealousy towards her only brother but like Leah had said before, she was only human and with that came with human emotions, not only having the emotion we choose.

Her eyes flick towards Embry's guilty face as he rubs a towel over his wet hair, another towel hanging low on his hips from having come from the shower moments earlier. She struggles not to stare at his chiselled chest as droplets trickle down his creamy coiffed skin towards the lower fluffed towel which absorbs the water before it can run even lower.

She's never figured out how and why Embry came to choose her - how Embry was even attracted to her in the first place. With her boring curls, her strangely slanted brown eyes and her not so model-esque body she wonders how anyone would even want her. Embry was perfect and deserved just as much in return.

"Sorry. The boys and I got a little carried away; with Jake being back and all" He murmurs apologetically as he rubs the towel over his chest and shoulders "You know you don't have to do that babe. I was going to do it after I got out of the shower"

"Well I can't wait forever now can I?" Charlotte snaps as she launches another cup into the bag with the frustration Embry has only seen a couple of times, mostly for the same resounding reason.

"Hey," Embry whispers as he places the towel down on the table and grabs the bag from her hands to place it down as well. She turns her face from him until he stops her by cupping her chin and angling it back so he has her full attention.

"You're crying," he frowns worriedly, his thumbs running over both full rosy flushed cheeks to rid them of tears. "Baby-"

Before Charlotte can say anything, she buries her head in his chest, her arms wrapping around his back as she begins sobbing uncontrollably into him. Her cheek rests against his warm chest as her even warmer tears flow down. Her heart constricts painfully as she feels him hug her back, one hand covering the middle of her back, the other buried in her black curls.

"I'm _so_ sorry" She manages to splutter out as he calmly rocks and shushes her within his huge arms. It's something that he's always been able to do without any qualms. Embry is the only man she's met who is not afraid to truly show his emotions even around friends, and he's the only man that has decided to stay while all the others had left. Her daddy and brother included.

"You have nothing to be sorry for Char" He coos, pulling her shoulders back to look down at her face. "What's the matter?"

After deeps breaths and hiccups Charlotte finally shrugs her shoulders and begins speaking. Even if it is the last thing she wants to do. Embry had always been an ambassador of talking problems through and it only highlights his perfection in her eyes.

"Darren's wife is pregnant _again,_" stifling a sob she wipes her face "I can't even have _one_ and she's on her like - fifteenth"

Chuckling softly Embry run a hand through her soft curls "I'm pretty sure it's only her third, honey"

"Same difference," She huffs, tensing her shoulders and turning away from him once again. Guiltily she glances up at her handsome husband to find him smiling softly at her. She hates that she is always the one with flaws between them and it hurts to think that he could do so much better than her.

"I'll never be able to give you what you want"

Without missing a beat Embry answers "_You_ are _all_ I'll ever want"

"Maybe _now -_ but in five, ten years, you're going to want someone who can bare you children. Wonderful little children with bright smiles and big brown eyes just like yours"

"Baby, come here" He beckons, lifting her atop the table and sitting her on the edge. He lifts her with such ease and treats her so delicately she often forgets the weight difference between her and all the other young girls around the reservation.

Leah had been the first to catch on to her internal catalogue of everything that was wrong with her body - wide hips, big boobs, pinches of baby fat here and there with the list going on and on. Leah had immediately scolded her for thinking such ridiculous thoughts saying that she was far from perfect, even being the size she was. Charlotte hadn't believed a word of it until Leah dragged her into the bathroom and showed her what real flaws really looked like.

_"Do you see now?" Leah asks as she stands in only a simple black bra and her brother's huge basketball shorts tied tightly to her waist._

_Charlotte has to cup her mouth to stop the gasp escaping her lips, and she tries to blink away the trembling tears that are filling her eyes quicker than she can will them again. "Lee-" She sobs as her eyes settle on most of the damage, scars running diagonally from her shoulders to her waist and then cutting deeply horizontally. Embry had told her that Leah had been involved with some bad guys that had left her for dead but she's never understood the implication until now._

_As Leah begins speaking, their eyes lock in the mirror above the basin. Leah's cheeks are flushed, her own eyes filling with tears. "Can you see now why none of it matters? Just because you don't have a waist the size of the stupid bimbos you look at in those magazines - doesn't mean that they are perfect. Me included. Embry loves you, and after seeing your stupid superficial flaws, he _still_ loves you"_

_Grabbing for her jumper, Leah pulls it on slowly taking her time before she turns to look at Charlotte. "He doesn't see them Charlotte, he doesn't see them because he loves who you are as a person, regardless of what is under your clothes. He wants you to be happy and if that means eating one too many cupcakes, who cares? I say eat the whole fucking tray and be happy for God's sake. Fuck what the rest of the world thinks about you... The only thing that matters is what _you_ think about you."_

"I'll only want that if they have your beautiful curls and only if my little girls have your bow lips-" He whispers as he places his mouth on hers "and only if they have your hands," threading his fingers through hers he feels her sigh "- and your voice, your nose," he kisses her softly again.

"Embry - what are you doing?" She gasps as he kisses her more firmly and presses her chest down with his until her back finds the wood of the pine table.

"You know what I'm doing" He replies coyly with a smirk, his hand travelling up the skin of her abdomen and under the material of her cotton shirt to her breast. "I only want to make you happy.

"Embry," she whines, shifting under his wandering hands. "We can't-"

"And why is that, my love?"

"I'm too heavy to be on the table," she pouts before he kisses her lips again, slower this time, calling out to the fire in her body. His hands run softly down her body feeling and touching everything he can without pulling away. She feels like an idiot and a bitch for thinking so lowly of Embry and of expecting him to be like all the others.

"You talk shit Char. This table can hold you just fine," he laughs as he pops the button of her jeans and tugs down the zipper with his long nimble fingers. "You're not even _that_ heavy"

"Now you're the one talking shit Call," she laughs as she lifts her hips so he can slide the jeans down over her thighs and calves.

"I'll do whatever it takes to make you happy Char, whatever it takes to make you believe me" He replies, curling his hand under her neck to pull her up just that little bit to meet his lips. Using his free hand to discard his towel, he nestles between her bare legs and looks down in wonder at the woman that has stolen his heart.

"Embry-" She chokes, feeling his hand nudge at the inside of her thighs so she can widen her legs. "I don't-"

"Baby, you're so wet." he hisses lowly, his fingers resting on her lower stomach as his thumb slides between her folds to find her clit. "You need me _so_ much"

"I do," she moans, her head tipping back as she feels his thumb circle her clit in slow calculating strokes. "I need you"

"I need you too baby, hold on," he growls, watching her legs part even further to accommodate his wide frame. Her soft olive coloured legs wrap around his waist in an attempt to draw him closer and they both sigh as he finally fills her need, stretching her so tightly tears form in the corner of her eyes.

"I love you," she whispers as she reaches out to touch his chest only to feel him shiver. His hips shift as he slowly pulls away only to glide back toward her in a solidly smooth rhythm. "And I'll be happy too. Even if it is just the two of us, for the rest of forever."

...

Seth runs the perimeter in a fast circuit, allowing his long hind legs to stretch right out until he is almost horizontal. The greens and browns of the forest whirl around him in a show of tall shapes and blurred figures. He wonders what it would be like to have the speed his sister possess, the much more sleek frame giving her speeds which could almost double his own. Enraptured with the sounds of his heart thumping and the heaving padding of his paws hitting the ground he runs out all the pains and frustrations of the last few days. His mind circles around the conversation from that morning with Billy and Jacob as they discussed the items they would need for the healing ceremony.

Billy had remained silent for most of the conversation, no doubt his thoughts honing in on the few moments he'd spent before his wife had died in his arms. Seth knows that Billy thinks it's a long shot but Jacob remains adamant it was going to work - that it _had_ to work.

_"Maybe you should check on your dad?" Seth suggests as Billy silently rolls out of the living room toward his room._

_"He'll be okay. When he gets like this - when we talk about mum - he likes to be by himself," Jacob explains as he closes the old Quileute book and stares at Seth._

_"What?"_

_"How are you? I never got to speak with you after - after Sue -" He splutters his words as Seth feels his heart sink into his stomach._

_"Yeah," Seth replies, glancing toward the kitchen window in an attempt to look away from his former best friends sincere face. "You're sorry. I'm sorry too," swallowing a huge lump in his throat Seth runs a hand over the side of his neck._

_"You mind if I ask how-"_

_"Cancer," Seth replies blankly, a small grimace setting over his lips._

_"Oh"_

_"Yeah"_

_The silence feels like thick goo settling over the area around them. It's awkward and strange and Seth hates that he has come here to discuss terms with his ex-Alpha, who by all intents and purposes could snatch the reins back from his sister at any given moment._

_"I really am sorry," Jacob offers as he stands to walk around the table toward his former pack mate. Laying a hand on his shoulder Jacob squeezes it lightly and lets out a sigh. Seth can feel his wolf bow to Jacob, knowing that he will always be the true Alpha. He hates the fact that the power Jake radiates is unbeknown to him and that Jake believes that by leaving he could escape his heritage and his pack._

_Nodding his head, Seth drops his shoulder so the contact can cease, allowing Jacob's hand to slip down off of him._

Running east Seth slows his strides and makes his way to the quarry, scenting a strange smell in the distance. Bleach burns his nose and he remembers that Nelson has also picked up the same scent and it had eventuated to one of the barns on old Hope's property. Supposedly the old man had a tendency to use large amounts of bleach on the concrete floors to clean off animal blood and remains after gutting and hanging them.

Glancing at the property through the wire fence he notices a familiar truck belonging to Dominic Hoquim parked in the drive on an angle. Perking his ears he tries to listen for voices but realises he is much too far away to pick up on anything. Shaking his head he glances one last time toward the house before he trots off to get back to his patrols. He still has three hours left and he wants to spend them stretching out while he is pain free.

Because once he phases back to human, he'll be back in a world of pain.

.


	11. Chapter 11

**I do not own Twilight**

* * *

><p>...<p>

Entangled

[ XI ]

...

_The sound of splintering wood rumbles around them, the outside of the house literally being beaten and destroyed, as they huddle in the centre of the room._

_Seth unlatches the manhole cover quickly, not wanting to waste time. The dining table is flipped over, Charlie cocking his shotgun and keeping it pointed at the door. The sound of Sue trying to stay calm by breathing in and out, is in effect, making more noise than the panic would._

_"I need you be quieter," Leah whispers, placing her index finger to her lips, "Like this ma, just breathe" she demonstrates._

_Kneeling on one knee and helping his mother down the steps into the small four by four space, Seth counts the steps of undead feet fluttering across the wooden porch, prying and ripping at the old weather board to get inside._

_The human scent inside the small house is driving the vampires into a manic frenzy. Their hungry vicious snares and screeches make his ears perk with warning; even more than usual. _

_Instead of staying and fighting at the boarder Sam had panicked at the last minute, calling all his wolves back. Neither Sam nor Leah were expecting the wave of black cloaked vampires that sailed through the trees with ease, bloodlust pumping through their most primal thoughts with the will to kill every shape shifter in the Quileute tribe._

_Standing at the line would ensure they would all be slaughtered, but splitting up and into pairs, they at least had a chance at picking them off one by one._

_"What the Hell are these things?" Charlie gasps as an arm punches through a set a wooden piling which he had hammered across the window pane. "Where are they all coming from?" he asks Leah desperately as he takes her hand and allows her to guide him down the small set of steps._

_"Vampire's Charlie, that's what they are," Leah growls as she passes her father's shotgun down toward her mother. "You'll need this ma, anything tries to come down here, and you pull this trigger nice and tight."_

_Her mother shakes her head with confusion as she realises the underlying message Leah is trying to portray. "No," Sue gasps, holding a shaking hand to her mouth._

_"I have to," Leah pleads, three howls ripping from the woods surrounding the house. She knows she needs to get out there and phase as fast as she can. Her pack needs her. Coming back and getting her mom and Charlie into the safe space had been the first prerogative. _

_"I'm coming," Seth states as he stands._

_"No, no" Leah replies, shaking her head, "You have to stay here to protect Charlie and Mum."_

_"I can't let you go out there alone sis. I know you're crazy but that is just fucking suicidal," Seth hisses as he grabs her forearm, pleading with her not to go._

_Pressing her palms against Seth's chest, she nods knowing Seth is right. Sam had suggested the pairings because of loyalty, so where one went, the other followed. But with the gifted vampires waiting outside while their lower ranked soldiers flushed all the wolves into the open, she couldn't allow Seth to be a part of that. The red-eyed girl had smiled especially wide at Leah, like she already had plans in that pretty blonde head of hers. Leah knew she was a target, for whatever reason._

_"I hope you forgive me one day," she whispers, hugging him tightly and tilting her head up._

_"For what?"_

_Taking a step back, Leah takes a deep breath, her eyes never faltering from his even as the windows to the upstairs bedroom smash. The scent of leech wafts through both their senses, the sound of snarling and yelping getting closer. They sound like wild animals, hyena's even, so desperately set on the mission of draining every human in the immediate area and disposing once and for all of the Quileute shape-shifters._

_While Seth is momentarily distracted by the sound, Leah sweeps him by the arm, her feet kicking out against his legs. The movement has him stunned which gives her enough momentum to push him down into the small space. The six foot fall won't kill him, and that's her only worry._

_Scurrying she pulls the heavy wooden cover, letting it slam down. Her fingers snap lock the bolt as she hears her brother yelling out to her._

_"Leah, what the fuck. Don't make me break this cover," he hisses, his fists banging loudly on the heavy wood._

_"You won't break it Seth. It's the only thing protecting mum and Charlie," she whispers as she pulls the carpet across and gets to her feet. "I love you guys. When the coast is clear get them to safety Seth."_

_..._

Moving from the bed is seemingly more difficult than he expects. It's still early morning and the sun is yet to rise, the cool night's air lingering in the small bedroom. Reaching down he tries to massage the pain away but soon finds that the skin is much too tender to even touch. It's burning, the sensation of both fire and ice moving through his veins. It's rippling under his skin like the two are separating his flesh from muscle, his cartilage from bone.

Having been startled from another nightmare, sweat trickles down his brow as he bites his lips between his teeth. He groans harshly as he tries to flex his foot, only to have his calf tense up as well, intensifying the splitting pain.

It feels as though his pain is alive. Breathing and moving through him as if it thinks for itself, has conscious thoughts and moves where it is effective most. He doesn't understand the pain and part of him doesn't care to. It sears; as though each hair follicle is being plucked from his skin, as if his skin is following closely behind its physical counterpart's step.

Shifting to his side he reaches for the prescription pills on the small table dresser, the same ones he's been relying on for years. With his heart thrumming in his chest he doesn't realise how far away the table actually is and swipes blindly at it before catching its edge.

Tears line his lashes as he fights back the blood curdling scream that is lodged in his throat. A scream that will wake the whole house and possibly the whole reservation.

Propping his elbow up, his hip digs sharply into the bed, placing much more pressure onto his damaged leg.

He has never been in this much pain before, not since and not after the attack. It's unbearable, unbelieving and the feel of it drives him back toward the darkest place in his life; Seth's very own darkest hour.

He now understands cohesively why the vampire had told him he would wish for death before the end. Told him that it would be the pain that he remembered in the end; not his family nor his pack. Not anything but the pain. The vampire had promised it. That it would bind him, that the pain would overtake him and drown out everything he ever loved.

Stretching his arm further toward the pills, his fingers flexing out, Seth feels the groan of the bed long before he hears it as the fire licks all over his body in protest to the movable action. Feeling the mattress flex and tip under his weight, he braces himself as best as he can for the impact of the wooden floor. It is going to hurt and no matter what he does nothing can prepare him for the agony he is about to feel.

His shoulder slams into the wood first, the corner of his hip and outer thigh soon following in sync, like a pack of cards folding. This time, he can't hold back the pain as a hoarse howl rips through the silence of the room like a high powered rifle next to his ear. Tears drip down his flustered cheeks as he clutches his thigh, attempting to put as much pressure as he can on it. It's nothing but hopeless as the muscle twists and sears under his skin. Sobs rack into the darkness of the small bedroom, leaving him breathless, powerless and afraid.

The padding of fast moving feet is being drowned out by the overwhelming cloud of fog entering his mind. Seth knows unconsciousness would soon take him and it was just about the only thing he was grateful for. Harsh pants race around the quiet room, his heart beating to the point of flat line.

"Seth?" A worried voice cries as the door flies open, feet sliding and knees dropping to the wood of the floor without any hesitation. He can't answer yet, it's too much; the pain, the hurt and the burn. It's all consuming, all knowing, and it wants him completely.

"Breathe Seth, breathe," the voice whispers to him as small hands cradled his head to their lap. It sounds like his mother, the deep thrum of love and all things empowering her, present in the voice. He wonders if she has finally come for him, death sending his own mother to walk with him into the next life. Walk him back to his ancestors and back to the great chief.

"Relax," comes the voice again, softer this time, nimble fingers pressing firmly against his cheeks to loosen the gritted teeth of his mouth.

Feeling the familiar smoothness of the pill on his tongue he swallows tryingly even with the dry lump lodged in his throat.

"It's okay Seth, I'm here,"

Feeling the stroke of shaky hands gliding through his hair, he feels his breaths slowly begin to calm and the cloud moves. It isn't fast or elegant but the grey seems to drift away into the background for now. His cheeks are still hot, his face wet with emotion but he doesn't attempt to wipe them away. He's tired, exhausted and he can barely recognise his surroundings.

"I'm not going anywhere."

Slumping his head further into her lap, Seth reaches to touch her bare knee, just needing to feel the touch of skin close to his. To feel the warmth of another human being to make sure that this isn't another dream and that she will soon disappear.

"Thank - thank you," he chokes out, not aware of anything else but the sound of her heart near him.

"Shhh," she chills, wiping her hand across his forehead and brushing his damp hair from his face, "Let it work Seth, just breathe. I'll be here when you wake."

He tries to fight but his eyes are swollen, his body drained. He wants to thank her again, offer her a gesture of returned comfort. But it's all too much. Darkness pulls his mind quickly, claiming him back into the recess of sleep.

...

August jerks awake, slamming his head against the top iron bar of the small bed frame. Swearing loudly he grabs the side of his head and kicks at the thin sheet wrapped around his legs.

The feral scream has shaken him from a deep sleep and by the time he's found the source of its beginning, the house is once again quiet.

Standing at the door he watches as Leah looks up and holds a slim finger across her lips, demanding that he be silent.

Seth is collapsed on the floor, his head resting perfectly on her lap. His skin looks sweaty and clammy, drained of any colour it once possessed. The shorts he sleeps in are damp and August tries to divert his eyes when he realises what has happened.

Tears streak Leah's face as she notices August's stare and his sympathy for the other wolf. Continuing on with her ministrations, she swallows deftly and sighs, "Will you... help me with him?"

August nods without a word and goes to find a cloth and another pair of basketball shorts. It's humiliating for the older wolf, more than it is for him as he quickly cleans Seth up and changes the material. Leah hovers over him but she glances down during the most private actions, giving Seth the respect and humility he deserves.

"August-" Leah begins, only to be cut off with a head shake.

"Don't worry, I won't say anything," he affirms.

After helping Leah put Seth back into the small bed August sits on the couch, hands in his hair and elbows on his knees. He wants to say something, wants to talk about how long this pain has been going on with his biological uncle and Beta. It's not the same concern he would have for a pack member, not like it would have been with Paul or Chris. This is the concern of a human being for another. Of family to another. To be in such pain day in and day out, having it consume every task you attempt, was hard for August to even think about.

Seth was and always had been one of the best when it came to blocking his thoughts from the rest of the pack. August hadn't been part of the pack for long but from the others control, or lack thereof, he could tell.

When he'd first phased he'd been terrified and Leah had been the only one able to talk him down from attacking anything that came near him. Even Leah had a hard time covering her thoughts from him when she'd realised he'd phased; both shock and despair running through her mind.

August's back tenses as he looks up and realises Leah has been talking to him. Shaking his own internal thoughts he slumps back into the couch to look at her face. Her knees are pulled up to her chest and her hands pick at the small comforter on the arm rest. Her cheeks are still red and her eyes still brimmed with tears. Even though she's a tall woman she looks tiny on the large couch, vulnerable even.

"I never know how bad it gets. He never asks for help, never wants for anything. It's only when," August watches as she swallows to fight back the rush of tears again, "It's only when_ this_ happens. If he hadn't screamed he would still be on the floor. I've been so selfish, such a bitch, I should have been-"

Guilt rushes through her face as she speaks her voice hoarse with emotions and her nerves wrecked beyond repair. Reaching out August grabs her shoulders and pulls her close, tucking her safety under his arm in a move that he'd often experienced from her. He pets her hair and tries his best to dwell the muffled sobs coming from his Alpha, his mother, his Leah.

"You're a good person Leah," August whispers as he squeezes her shoulder, "everyone makes mistakes."

"He should have never come to find me that night. He should have stayed on the reservation like I told him to," she claws against his shirt, her tears feeling warm even through the material. "He should have let me die out there," she whispers the last part, pain evident in finally speaking the words out loud.

"You know he couldn't have let that happen. He's your brother Leah, your family, and if you think he would have been in less pain with you not here, you're wrong," August replies as he kisses her forehead.

"When I was with Georgina in the beginning I knew I wasn't _from_ her. When all the lights went out at night I would put my ear to the door and listen to her and Dominic argue. They would say horrible things, hurt each other emotionally and let it continue night after night. When Dominic started to beat on her I would cry and hide under my bed waiting for the day he would come after me.

I mourned my parents; because I thought you were both dead. I mean – why else would someone leave a child in a house like that? I hoped every night you would come for me and take me away too."

"Shit," Leah sobbed burying her head even further into his stomach, "I'm such a fucking failure. Everything I do turns to shit and it's like I have no control over it."

"It's alright. But if you think for one second that Seth would be better off without you you're wrong. I wouldn't trade any of my nights huddled under that bed for a better life, if it meant not ever meeting you…or Edward," his voice is low, melodic even and he tries not to break, tries to keep being strong for his mother.

"You're the strongest person I know; both as my Alpha and a human being. Good things come to those who wait, you'll see," he hummed as he brushed his fingers through her hair.

Fighting back the sobs with a sad chuckle Leah turns to look up at him and he sees the confusion in her eyes. It scares her to see that in such a short time he's matured once again, "When did you become so wise?" she smiles, trying to fight back the huge hurt in her heart, the immense hurt he's always been able to see.

"It's common sense I guess," August replies with a shrug, "I've always seen you that way and always believed that there would be a happy ending waiting for you. You're going to be okay. With me and Uncle Seth here, Edward too if you want him to be; we're going to be alright." He tries to keep his voice light, believable even. They both know he can't guarantee the future but there is a comfort in trying to offer better days of tomorrows.

"Thank you August," she whispers as she turns her head back into his lap and faces the large window.

"For what?"

"For being you. For being here with me. For just giving me something to hold on to."

...

She stares at herself in the mirror holding her hair up from the nape of her neck before dropping it again. Biting her bottom lip she glances down at the light wash jeans and cream sleeved frill top. Her white sneakers are muddy but after a quick wipe they have come up as good as she'll ever get them.

Butterflies fill her stomach as she waits for the sound of Jacob's truck. It's been almost three days and besides the short phone calls, she hasn't heard from him or seen him. Though she can admit to being busy herself; writing like a thief and pouring everything from her mind on to paper or her laptop at least, she hasn't had much time to give.

Between the multiple trips down to the public library and buying several books in Port Angeles, she hasn't left the house, much preferring to continue her writing streak.

Moving over to the laptop she looks over the last words on the white page, clicking save several times to make sure she doesn't lose her one and only copy. Her memoirs.

Remembering every single conversation they shared makes her feel somewhat - fuller. Like the more she writes, the closer he becomes. Fingering the screen she sighs in resignation. A big part of her is still in love with the Edward of her memories, and a big part of her wants; no _needs _him.

No matter how much space Jacob fills inside her, Edward is the only true piece that makes her feel complete. Normal even.

_[ He was suddenly resigned. "What are you curious about?"_

_"How old are you?"_

_"Seventeen," he answered promptly._

_"And how long have you been seventeen?"_

_His lips twitched as he stared at the road. "A while," he admitted at last. ]_

"Bella, Jake's here" Charlie hollers from the living room, startling her and making her heart almost jump from her chest. Checking once more in the mirror Bella slams the bedroom door and hurries down the steps with her purple hemp bag, barrelling straight into her father.

"Whoa, slow down there munchkin, you're going to get yourself hurt running around like that," Charlie chuckles as he catches her waist as she stumbles and pulls her back so her feet meet the ground once again.

"Sorry dad," she bushes, kissing his cheek to bid him goodbye, "Don't wait up," she calls as the heavy pine door slams behind her.

Scratching his moustache Charlie shakes his head to rid the images of what his baby could possibly be up to tonight. Teenagers somehow escape his grasp, knowing that no matter how much he remembers his own glory days, the kids around Forks and the Reservation are completely different; at least the ones that know about the dark secrets that inhibit the area.

Running and making her sneakers muddy all over again Bella bounds up to the truck and scrambles inside, relishing in the warmth the cabin supplies. Part of her is excited about tonight and another part is still so nervous. She feels like she's never left Washington and that this is the first date her and Jacob have ever been on.

He's dressed in dark green jumper, black denim covering his long legs to his boots. He looks great and smells even better as she touches his arm and reaches to kiss him.

"Jake?" Bella mutters once she realises he is not moving down to her level, instead he sits perfectly still with his eyes glaring into the distance of the trees. His mouth is set in a firm line but when she touches his cheek he seems to snap out of whatever trance he is under.

"Sorry," he whispers lowly, moving down to kiss her quickly before changing the gears into first and accelerating down the poorly paved road.

"Are you okay," Bella asks as she watches his brow crease, a habit he has picked up from Billy. The Blacks seem to have a tendency to frown when they are deep in thought; even Rachel, Jacob's older sister shares the trait.

Meeting Rachel at Sam's house had thrown Bella off, as soon as she realised Rachel and Leah shared the same vicious tongue. Rachel was so beautiful and elegant, even in her anger with Paul, she made Bella feel sloppy and uncoordinated all over again.

"Sure, sure," he smiles half-heartedly as he watches the dark road, "Just thinking, you know."

Tucking a piece of brown hair behind her ear Bella shifts closer to her boyfriend, allowing him to drape an arm around her slim shoulders, "Bout what?"

"You know - _everything_," Jake shrugs as his hand clenches and unclenches around the steering wheel.

"Oh," Bella nods understanding the feeling. She's too has been thinking a lot this past couple of days; contemplating the future mostly.

"Urgh," he sighs running a hand through his thick hair, "Sorry, I'm wrecking the mood aren't I? I was supposed to do this all proper and here I go and ruin it"

"Its fine," she insists as she lays her head against his warm shoulder, "where are we going anyway?"

"I was thinking some dinner and maybe a movie?" He smiles that great smile that has always made her feel safe and wanted. Like she was all he saw.

Bella smiles back, hooking her arm through his, "That sounds great. I feel like I haven't eaten real food for ages"

"Me neither," Jacob frowns, "I really have to get dad to watch what he eats. All we've eaten the last couple of days is mini pizzas and nachos"

The drive goes faster than Bella would have liked and soon they are both hoping from the truck and running inside the small Italian restaurant to shield themselves from the downpour. Bella rings out her damp hair as Jacob takes her jacket. The rain had come from nowhere and began pelting the car as soon as they crossed into the greater Port Angeles area.

"I can't believe how fast that came down," she huffs as her fingers thread through the long brown mane.

"Yeah, sorry I don't have an umbrella or anything," Jacob smiles sheepishly, "You look like a drowned rat."

"Jake," Bella hisses whacking him on the forearm, "that's not very nice."

"What?" he laughs, shrugging his shoulder, "It's true. At least you're a pretty cute rat," he chuckles as he leans down to kiss her forehead.  
>Removing his own jacket he passes it to the host and both make their way to a small table.<p>

…

Rolling his head back Jacob stares at the ceiling, trailing his eyes across the small cracks. His stomach rumbles again and he closes his eyes in trepidation. Dinner had been barely over three hours ago and he feels like he is starving once again. The meal had been mediocre and he realised soon after ordering why he never liked going out to eat. The meal sizes are designed for toddlers and the prices on the menu had him pouting as if one. The seafood marinara he had ordered was far from extraordinary, the shell fish chewy and obviously cooked much too long. Even Bella's vegetable pasta dish had looked less than tasteful.

Hauling his ass off the sofa he makes sure not to bump into Bella, her light snores filling the near silent living room. It had been wise to ditch the movie and come back to Charlie's to put on a DVD, especially once Bella started to sneeze. Jacob could feel her temperature changing and suggested it best to get out of the wet, damp night. She'd fallen asleep almost immediately after hitting the large recliner and before the opening credits could even begin.

Tugging her legs back onto the couch he drapes the throw rug over her sock covered feet, flicking off the muted TV as he leaves the room.

Grabbing his keys from the small bowl in the hall he notices the kitchen light on. Deciding quickly he figures it best to apologise to Charlie for the other day, maybe talk it out with him somehow so they can come to an understanding.

Stepping into the doorway he stumbles once he realises that it's not Charlie in the kitchen, but Leah.

"Leah?" he calls as he steps into the kitchen, her back turned and hands full of containers, "What are you doing?"

She doesn't answer as she places container after container into the white fridge, stacking them neatly before closing it. Turning to him she scowls a little with an arched brow, taking in his clothes. It's obvious that he's dressed better than usual.  
>"Making sure Charlie has enough food for the week. If I don't stock the fridge, the fool will starve to death." Letting out an intrepid breath, Leah quells her anger.<p>

"And you're stocking his fridge at," Jacob glances down at his watch, "two am?"

Shrugging her shoulder's Leah runs her finger against the bench, "I just got off patrol. This is the earliest I could get here. Between patrol and trying to organise Seth and August I don't necessarily have time for much else."

He can tell she's not lying but there seems to be something unsaid lingering in the air. It's dense, thick and heavy as it hangs over both their shoulders.

"Right, I'll just let you-"

"Wait Jake," she whispers, biting her bottom lip in between her teeth, an action he expects from Bella, never from Leah. Of anything said about Leah Clearwater it is not that she is weak or vulnerable. However that is exactly how she looks as she stands in the small kitchen surrounded by wooden panels and laminated bench tops.

"Yeah?" he answers, tugging and scratching at the strands of his hair.

Puffing out a line of breath to build internal courage Leah's eyes glance from his chest to lock with his own, "Would you like to kind of... grab that cup of coffee?"

It's late, his body tired and his mind dreary but this may be the opening he's been looking for. It's not big, but it's a start. And a little is better than nothing at all with Leah.

"Sure," he smiles warmly, glancing back down to the hallway momentarily before settling back on the woman in front of him, "let's go"

* * *

><p>[ ] Extract taken from the first book in the Twilight Saga, page 104, to which SM owns.<p> 


	12. Chapter 12

**I do not own Twilight**

* * *

><p>...<p>

Entangled

[ XII ]

...

_Her arms are twisted at an awkward angle as she struggles against the powerful grip of the vampire. Ice cold hands encase her, stopping any plausible escape she conjures up in her mind. Her surroundings swirl around her like a carnival ride and she uses what strength she has left to focus the jumbled array of thoughts in her head._

_She can feel their eyes on her, their gaze prickling and heating her flesh, her bones, no matter how deep, feeling the cold frost which their stares leave in their wake._

_Her wolf cries out in frustration, begging to be released, begging to kill each and every one of her mortal enemies around her but the small blonde haired child prevents the phase. With her red eyes locked on Leah, she channels her gift the moment she sees the change about to begin, stopping it in its tracks like a high speed collision. One hint of a ripple under the skin brings Leah abruptly to her knees._

_"She's a feisty one," the brown hair boy states as he stands in front of her, a smile coming to the forefront of his cold lips. His eyes are blood red and yet Leah can see the glint of playfulness in them. A killers eyes. He seems too young to be so sadistic but she has learned over the years that looks can be deceiving; that those she could trust, she could not._

_"And so pretty," another velvet voice laughs, stepping forward to brush back the hair that is falling around her face and across her sweaty forehead._

_Leah pulls away from the cold hand only to be encased tighter, her arms pressed tightly against her lower back. Her teeth grit as she feels the blonde grab her chin harshly so he can look her over._

_His eyes travel each feature of her face, starting with the dark arched eyebrows down to the pink stained lips and lengthy neck. He's studying her, memorising her and the subtle hints of fear in her animalistic eyes._

_She can't bear to stand the thoughts on what they might do with her now that they have her so she looks down instead. Holding the males gaze feels intimate, forbidden and she doesn't want to portray anything less than how she feels. Alone. Afraid. And most of all angry._

_"Yes, very very beautiful," the older blonde vampire hums as he runs his cold fingertips over her mouth._

_His beauty is striking, painful even, but she knows that it's all part of the illusion. Humans had a tendency to trust pretty people and she wonders just how many had fallen to their knees and prayed to their Gods before the end._

_Leah can see a glint of something sexual in his eyes and spits to the ground in disgust. All vampires were creatures of gluttony; sex, blood and power, the trinity of over indulgent pleasures. The source didn't matter to them in the long run, only the goal and the enrichment they would feel in the succession of such things._

_"Does she speak?" the brown haired child asks as he peeks around the tall blonde._

_Leah lets out a yelp of surprise as the male behind her breaks her little finger for failing to reply to the tiny murderer._

_"Answer the question or say goodbye to another finger"_

_Nodding Leah looks up at the child and growls, "Of course I speak you little shit."_

_"She has a potty mouth Demetri," the child states as he looks up at the blonde, "I don't like her"_

_"I don't like you either you undead little freak," Leah spits again as her captor pushes her down on to her knees for her intolerance. The concrete slaps as her knees connect with the floor, sending rivets of pain through her cruciate ligaments._

_"I wouldn't say that if I were you honey," the blonde sings as he gently cups her face, "Jane gets mighty upset when humans are nasty to her brother"_

_"Like I give a shit what those two incestuous fucks think about-"_  
><em>Leah's eyes widen in horror as she feels the stabbing pain all over her body. Her muscles clench and unclench trying to ride out the feeling but there is just so much of it, and not enough of her. Ice cold hands still cup her cheeks, fingers rubbing the height of her cheek bones and the width of her lips.<em>

_The older blonde vampire, Demetri, coos and hums, vibrant over the pain that is being inflicted on her by the little girl. His arousal is evident each time a wave of pain ripples through her from the core. Its as though she's dying; from the inside out._

_"Breathe honey; breathe," he laughs, speaking with fake concern, "just a little longer. You're doing so well."_

_Screams echo through the small outhouse but it isn't until she drops to the ground, her body spent, that she realises that they were from her own mouth. Her muscles twitch as if she's just been electrocuted and it's a hard blight to try and stand after such an immense amount of pressure being constricted on her body. She feels like a stranger inside her body, like she's a different person. It won't move, it won't yield to her command and she can barely keep her eyes open._

_"See," Demetri whispers as his tongue slithers across her cheek to taste her sweaty skin, "I told you she'd get angry, pretty girl"_

_Leah doesn't snap or push at the vampire this time. She's boneless, lethargic and tired. She can hardly form any distinguishable sounds from her mouth. It's like they've taken her voice away too. She closes her eyes in an attempt to free her mind, to take herself anywhere but here._

_Thoughts and memories swirl until they land on a singular event. The detail is blurred but she knows enough about him to remember even the slightest of resemblances._

_He's asleep on his back, his arm drawn up in an elevation sling to aid his healing collarbone while the rest of his bandaged body sprawls out over the small bed. Beads of sweat line his top lip and his face scrunches in pain each time his body unconsciously moves._

_Sitting quietly in the dark room she takes his hand, rubbing gentle circles into his russet covered knuckles. He's been suffering nightmares since Bella's visit and quick exit and the only thing that seems to calm him is the presence of another wolf, primarily her._

_She doesn't know why but she takes it in stride knowing that his wolf is probably fretting over the only female in the pack and her primary safety. He'd saved her life earlier that day so it was the least she could do for now._

_Glancing down at their hands she studies the differences in them. While hers are long and lean Jacob's are longer and wide. Scars which will soon fade cover the skin of both their hands. Laying her palm flat against his her spine tingles in response to the heat trapped between them._

_Pulling back slightly she panics when she feels Jacob's fingers slip through her own, intertwining them tightly. Bursts of bright colours seem to ignite behind her eyes but she doesn't pull away like she normally would._

_Instead, she sits there, watching over Jacob and his injuries, holding his hand until morning._

_"I say we kill the she-bitch. That way no one in her pathetic tribe will be having any more puppies," Jane states evenly as she picks at her nails._

_"I don't think it works like that," Demetri replies as he gently brushes each piece of stray hair away from Leah's face. "Does it honey?" he says with a small smile, "But - I suppose it won't hurt. Just to be on the safe side."_

_Leah whimpers as the blonde's fingernail cuts down her cheek all the way to her collar bone. She can feel the skin split and open, like an onion being cut and the layers peeled away. He smiles the entire time as their eyes lock, Leah's eyes filled with hatred while Demetri's brim with lust._

_"Your blood tastes strange," he comments as he licks her cheek and slips the tip of his tongue over the incision, his venom searing the wound like a tattoo._

_"I hope you choke on it motherfucker," she hisses softly._

_A cold hand seizes around Leah's neck and presses firmly, making sure she understands the silent threat. With the fingers pressing indents into her larynx, she gasps for air._

_"I doubt that very much, beautiful"_

...

The sky is dark but the brightly lit 24 hour diner gives off enough superficial light to almost make it seem as though it were day. Low booths line the windows, Leah and Jacob sitting opposite each other on the hard white plastic.

Dumping more sugar than water into his coffee, Jacob shifts uncomfortably, feeling the eyes of his former Beta on him. She's not glaring, but still, the gaze heats his skin, his collar becoming unconditionally tighter the longer they sit in silence.

In some regal sense he's always been partial to Leah. He had loved Seth like his own brother but Leah was different. She was like that girl that made you nervous, the one you still tried to impress, no matter how old you got or how stupid the idea. There had always been a strange aura around her and Jacob hates to admit that at one point he may have even had feelings for her that lengthened further than the strings of friendship. Even if he was twelve years old at the time it seems immoral to harbour anything for her. It's sounds cruel but he knows that whatever he thought they could have had, vanished the day he left with Bella.

He has tried to make it more comfortable with each of his pack members since his return, slowly allowing himself to slip back into the old Jake, LaPush's Jake.

Though, making up for lost time, while on his agenda, feels implausible. He can't right the wrongs of the past and he sure as hell can't take away any of their pain. He wants to believe in redemption, believe that everything will work out in the end, but he knows happy endings are far and few between.

It still kills him to think about Leah's brown eyes filling with tears of despair and how she'd begged for him to stay. She had never wanted for anything and in that moment Jacob had seen just a slither of why she'd reacted the same way he did with Bella and Edward. It was unfair, cruel even.

He was forcing her hand and she hadn't had a choice. The power to choose had been taken away from her. Again.

It's empty around them and besides the older woman alternating between two coffee pots and cleaning the meal kitchen after a busy night, they are the only two in the small building.

Leah sits huddled toward the window, one eye on the front door and the other flicking between the space behind Jacob and the woman clanking pots around in the kitchen. Jacob can see that she is unsettled here and thinks that maybe they should have ordered to go and parked out somewhere. Her eyes look a little wild, like a caged animal being backed into a corner, but she slowly pulls it together once she notices his interest.

"So," Jacob begins, stirring his coffee with one of the wooden sticks from the sugar packet, "how was patrol?"

...

_'Hold up_,' Paul yells as his paws dig into the soft dirt. His massive wolf body stops abruptly, his head jerking in the opposite direction of which he is running. Shivers move up and down his spine, like spider legs running across flesh, '_You hear that?'_

_'Hear what?'_ August asks as he stops suddenly behind the older wolf.

_'Listen Pup; listen with more than just your ears'_

August cocks his head to the side wondering what the Hell Paul is talking about until he feels it shudder in his bones. _'What is that?'_

_'I don't know,'_ Paul mentally frowns as he circles the area, a sense of urgency running through the synapses of his mind,_ 'But I need to find out'_

_'What about patrol? We can't just leave our posts'_ August insists, trotting after Paul who has his snout pressed to the ground, his form moving quickly; tracking. _"I'm serious man. Seth will be pissed."_

_"What the fuck is _that_?" _Paul whispers to himself, well aware that August can hear him through the mind link. Memories filter past Paul's thoughts in an attempt to piece the feeling to something he's heard before, felt before, a long time ago.

...

_The room is so dark her eyes have a hard time adjusting even with the extra shape shifter gene. Her face is swollen and it feels as though a golf ball has been lodged between her teeth and the inside of her mouth._

_Blood trickles over her lips and down the corner of her left eye after the sleazy blonde bloodsucker had requested information and had once again been denied. She's not sure how long it's been, but knows that she's been in and out of consciousness several times._

_The room doesn't allow for light so she's not even sure if it day or night outside. She wonders how long it's been, whether the rest of the families; her family, got away or stayed safe._

_She tries to sniff out the different scents between dusk and dawn, having memorised them during her patrols, but finds nothing. The only thing she can smell is her own blood. Not even the stench of leech can cover the overpowering smell of metallic blood._

_"Ms Bitch is finally awake," Jane states broadly as she sits next to a wooden box with her elbow propping her head up. Her black coat is partially open revealing layers upon layers of satin and silks, blues and deeps reds. Royal colours of an old age._

_Glancing at Demetri, Jane sighs, "I don't see the point of this. Let me use my power and we can go home already. She'll be talking in several tongues by the time I'm finished with her."_

_"No," Demetri growls as he wonders over to Leah's body and yanks her up by the elbow. The steel shackles remain tightly around Leah's wrists and her skin burns and chaffs against the cold metal. "She'll talk," he whispers as his hands slide up her back to the collar of her ripped shirt. Tugging effortlessly, the material rips from Leah's body as if it is thin paper leaving her upper body in only a bra. "They always do."_

...

Leah's gaze is settled on the top of her mug, her eyes blinking blankly into the dark liquid. She hasn't even taken a sip but she keeps her hands firmly pressed against the hot ceramic as her eyes make their journey towards Jacob's hands.

"Alright," Jacob breathes, noticing how strange this meeting seems to be with her not answering even the simplest of his questions.

"I need you to do the healing ceremony sooner than planned," she states, her eyes lingering on each movement his hands make, before discreetly dipping her chin down to glance at the door, "I need you to do it this weekend."

"We were going to make it next month but alright. There are only a few more things I have to get and then we should be-"

"Seth's going to take my place," she whispers, diverting her head down. Her cheeks flush as she brushes the hair back from her shoulders making the thin scar that runs down her face more distinguishable under the white light.

The sight of it makes Jacob's stomach roll; knowing that the once beautiful Leah Clearwater had been tainted by a vampire. But even then, the scar gives her character, it gives her strength, residency earned in the supernatural world they both live in; though Jacob eager to escape.

Frowning hard his eyebrows push together, "I thought you wanted the scars gone?" He keeps his voice low, still very much aware of the waitresses presence.

He watches as Leah taps her fingers on the table, her knee bouncing in pent up frustration. Her lips are pressed tightly together making the edges of the scar that run through it, white.

"Seth needs it more than I do," she says when she finally speaks, "_Deserves_ it more than I do. Plus, nothing ever disappears Jake. Scars heal physically of course, but inside, inside is where you _can't_ reach; can't _fix_."

"Everything can be fixed Leah."

Her eyes darken as they flick back to his, darting back and forth between each iris to make sure he is being serious about what he's just said, "Maybe in _your_ world things can be fixed Jacob, but in _my_ world, the world you left behind, nothing is ever completely fixed. If it could be, my parents wouldn't be dead, Sarah would still be alive and Billy would be fucking walking."

Sucking in a deep breath Leah surveys her options, "Look, this was a bad idea alright; I... _fuck_... thanks for the coffee Jacob. This has been fun, lets _never_ do it again," she says sarcastically as she moves from the bench.

Shaking his head Jacob takes her hand and stops her from moving from the booth, "You don't mean that Leah. The thing is - I wanted to do this for _you_, because -"

Glancing up, Jacob notices the tears in the corners of her eyes. They are trembling, threatening to fall, but they hold on.

"It will mean more, to _me_, if you do it for him, Jake. My pain is only a fraction compared to Seth's," she whispers as she sits back in the booth. "He's my brother and I would rather see him happy than myself. Seth's pain is debilitating him from the inside. You can't see it, but I do. I _live_ it. I see and hear everything, Jacob. Seth is different than I am, than we _both_ are. He deserves better. And if I have to give up some stupid scars to give him back his life; _a_ life, then I'll do it"

Nodding his head, Jacob sighs as he rubs his palms over his face, realisation dawning, "I don't know if it will work Leah. I mean - you, _yes_. But Seth... I just don't know"

"What makes us different Jacob? What could possibly set me and him apart?" Leah hisses, pointing and prodding her finger in his face. Her calm demeanour has slipped off, unmasking the beast within.

Anger shoots through Jacob's eyes as his hands tremble, "You want to know what sets you both apart? Come with me," he demands, sliding across the chair and out of the booth. He doesn't blink or bat an eyelash when he tugs her to her feet, throwing a twenty on the table, and begins dragging her to the door. If she hadn't known all this time why he picked her as Beta all those years ago, she's about to find out. He's sick of being on the back end of her anger and rage, and he is going to show her exactly what he saw.

"Jake - what are you - _let_ go," Leah hisses as she feels Jake moving her as if she is a rag doll. It's no use; he is stronger, more agile, and more masculine than she will ever be. His wolf is snarling just under his skin, the moon light flitting across his tight russet skin as they both move through the door to the truck.

"Hurry up," he barks, securing an arm around her waist just in case she tries to bolt.

"You have five seconds to let go of me, Black," she shrieks, jabbing at his side while he merely picks her up by the scruff of her jumper and pushes her against the side of the truck. Her body jolts with the sudden impact, jarring each tendon, leaving her slightly light headed as the cold metal presses through her jumper and onto the scars riddled over her back.

His body is pushed up tightly against hers, pinning her to the side of the tray while securing his large hands around her wrists. "Come with me Leah," Jacob whispers into her ear, urging his body closer, "Come with me and let me show you what sets you apart from Seth."

"If I come with you," Leah hisses, one of her hands escaping his grasp and slinking into the tray of the truck, "I want Seth to take my spot." Her breathing is laboured as his weight presses into her harder, his dark eyes clouding over.

"Deal, but I'm not going to make this easy on you Leah."

Laughing bitterly, Leah snaps her teeth towards his cheek, threatening to bite into him even in human form, "Don't worry, whatever you have planned, I can handle."

"I wouldn't expect anything less, Clearwater."

...

_Kicking the backs of her knees down, Demetri watches as Leah stumbles to the ground, her modesty long forgotten._

_Grabbing a handful of her black hair, Demetri rips back her head and presses his lips against her temple. His cold breath spirals through her hair, igniting each follicle. The pain of his grip is excruciating and her teeth grit to stop from crying out._

_With her on her knees he crouches behind her, his fingers threading a tighter grip just in case the she-bitch decides to make a break for it. While he admires her willpower and the fight in her character, he detests being disobeyed. Just the thought of the creature in front of him not succumbing to his will makes the venom bubble in his throat._

_Pulling a blade from his leather boot, he places it bluntly at her scalp, pulling her head back further so he can see those pretty eyes. Those big hazel eyes of cunning deceit. Of disobedience and pride. A pride which he was going to stomp out with his boot, crush under his stone palm until nothing but ash was left._

_"I've read in many history books about the technique of scalping within Native tribes," he whispers into her temple, jerking her back. "They say scalping bestows the possessor with the powers of the scalped enemy. Tell me little wolf, do you think it will work? Do you think if I take it as a trophy, I will become a wolf too?"_

_"Wrong tribe, fuck face," Leah hisses as she feels the serrated edge of the blade begin to split her hairline. "Even if it did work, you're dead remember? You're body doesn't have the ability to change, it doesn't grow, _live_, breathe."_

_"Ah, pity then," Demetri drawls, flinging her forward to watch her collide with the hard concrete floor._

_Leah lets out a grunt of pain and fists her hands against the floor. Everything hurts; everything feels broken, bruised and torn._

_"Well, we will just have to figure out a way to even up the score, don't you think? I wonder if a wolf can turn into a vampire?" he contemplates as he reaches for her wrist and rubs the delicate layer of flesh covering her vein._

_Leah screams hoarsely as she feels Demetri's teeth peirce through her flesh. It takes only a moment and when nothing happens Demetri tries again._

_Frenzied and wild with the lack of development Demetri moves to the large expanse of bare flesh in front of his eyes. He begins at her shoulders, biting and licking, allowing his venom to infect her._

_The screams deafen Demetri but all he does is smile against her flesh and bite down again. And again._

_Until the screams suddenly stop._


End file.
